


The Formans

by mylovelylions



Category: That '70s Show
Genre: 1970s, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Romance, Smut, Teen Angst, Teen Romance, Teenagers, To Read
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-28
Updated: 2021-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-19 08:47:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 76,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22008277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mylovelylions/pseuds/mylovelylions
Summary: Hyde/OC. Eric has a twin sister named Tina Forman. How would everything be different if she were there? (I know. I know. But give it a chance, yeah?)
Relationships: Steven Hyde/Original Character(s)
Comments: 109
Kudos: 137





	1. Forman Family Thanksgiving

"Slut."

"Dweeb."

The brunette smiled thinly at the blonde haired girl in front of her, completely ignoring the college girl standing in the gutter of the bus depot. Where just a moment ago, Eric had been complaining about the cold November air, now he was completely silent, his eyes wide.

For the first time since Tina Forman had entered her junior year in high school and Laurie had entered her second year in college, the sisters were coming face to face. Like most teenage girls, a boy was the cause of their long silence towards each other and although Eric couldn't completely understand it, he respected the fact that talking about it would get his playboys torn to shreds and he would be waist deep in girl anger. And frankly, female emotions were far beyond him.

And he was man enough to admit that they scared him a little bit.

"Sooo," Tina started slowly, the casual tone of her voice deceptive even as her blue eyes flashed icily up at her older sister. "How many guys did you bang this time?"

"Tina!" Kitty exclaimed, horrified but still forcing out a laugh at the stares from some of the people crowding the bus station.

Laurie's lips tipped up, not even fazed for a moment at her little sisters question. To Tina, Laurie always seemed closer to a sly cat than a human being. A really _bitchy_ , sly cat that was always in heat.

"Mm," the blonde laughed, sliding a well manicured hand to one hip. "It's cute that you're pretending to even know what that word means, _little sis_."

It was a low blow. Even Eric knew that, his eyes widening even more as he gulped. It was hard to believe that his twin sister had ever been close with their eldest sibling. When they were younger, more than Eric, Tina had gone to Laurie for protection and advice. When the kids at school used to get after the brunette who always seemed to be too skinny or too quiet, it was Laurie who would make them shut up.

But all that changed when they both girls had gone after Todd Jackson the summer before. Especially since Tina had been so young and Laurie… Well, Laurie was _Laurie_. _Hot Laurie. Laurie with the baby blues and the sexy smile. Laurie with the_ _boobs_. The blonde got Todd with little more than a bat of her lashes and Tina had been the last one to find out. By walking in on them having sex. On her bed.

"We should…" Red coughed, feeling like he was back in World War II trying to escape enemy notice rather than about to take his three children back home for Thanksgiving. Both Kitty and Red shared a panicked glance. Not only would they have their two _lovely_ daughters under the same roof but Red's mother was coming. _Red's mother._ "You both look like you're freezing! We should get in the car, don't you think?"

It was a horrible cover but with a firm hand around Laurie's bicep and another around Tina's, both Red and Kitty were able to hightail it over to the car. Even though Tina was thinking about clawing Laurie's stupid eyes out the whole way there.

Sitting crammed all in the back of the Vista Cruiser, breathing in Laurie's cheap as hell perfume, it almost seemed to be like when they were children. Eric was still scrawny. Laurie was still the prettiest. And Tina was still the one with the smart mouth. Over the years, although she would never be able to match up to her older sister in her own mind, she had grown through the gangling arms and legs. She had gotten a figure and knew how to put on makeup that made her blue eyes pop. On more than one occasion, Kelso and Fez had tried to get with her.

"So," Tina started in again, turning her full attention on Laurie's little friend with the calculation of a cobra about to strike. "What was your name again?"

Up front, Kitty gave another hysterical laugh and started in on a verse of Jingle Bells like the song would save her from the oncoming storm.

"Kate!" the bottle blonde chirped, her smile so big and dumb that it almost made Tina feel bad for her. Slowly, her eyes moved to Laurie who merely shrugged. Her older sister liked the stupid ones. They seemed to make the girl feel invincible.

"That's a…" Eric let out a breathy laugh, his eyes dreamy enough to draw his twin sister's attention. "That's a really, really _great_ name."

"Careful, Eric," Tina sang softly to him, making sure that only he could hear her. "You're eyes are getting a bit too big for your body."

Although, her brother had tried to keep it low, almost everyone who had eyes in their skull could see that though it wasn't official, he had the hots for the redhead next door. And Tina couldn't blame him. They had known Donna Pinciotti since they could walk. Secretly, the brunette had always thought that the redhead would grow out of her faze and go after someone a bit taller. Maybe a football player. Or… Someone other than her brother.

But if he went after Kate - and Tina knew all too well how tempting a dumb blonde could be - than he would lose Donna. And the respect of everyone including her.

Eric gave a fake laugh, elbowing her in the side before turning back to Kate. "So I saw that you're wearing an... _Abba_ shirt. I just love those...Um…"

"Their song, Waterloo is my favorite," Kate gushed, nodding enthusiastically and Eric gave a relieved smile.

"Yeah! _Musicians_. They had to be musicians. Love their work. Could you… You wanna sing a little?"

And so the car was filled to the brim with the wondrous songs of _Abba_. To the complete and utter chagrin of Red.


	2. B Average at Best

In sixth grade, after seeing how the boys and Kitty reacted to Laurie, Tina Forman started to stuff her bra which unfortunately ended in odd lumps that slipped out of place easily. Red had had the awkward honor of having a "talk" with his youngest daughter. And her twin brother laughed so hard when he saw her that he actually peed himself. Which made them look like the stupidest pair of twins in all of Wisconsin.

In eighth grade, she put makeup on so heavily after seeing her eldest sister applying lipstick, that the curly-haired boy who always wore a pair of obnoxious sunglasses and hung out with her brother told her she looked like a batfish. When she had finally been able to find a picture of said fish, she cried so hard that Kitty had almost taken her to the emergency room.

By her freshman year in high school, Tina Forman had decided that she was going to be her own person. She decided that she would stop putting on blush and chopping off her auburn hair to make her have more of a bob like Laurie. She would stop putting on lipgloss and blue eyeshadow because the curly-haired boy that her brother liked to hang around with wasn't going to stop coming around and he _definitely_ wasn't going to stop calling her mean names.

She went through her freshman year reforming herself. Tina Forman changed her whole look until even sunglasses boy couldn't utter a word. Bell-bottoms were in and Tina looked good in them. Tight shirts were in and Tina finally had boobs. She was a new woman and by the time that the summer of her sophomore year hit, Tina felt like she could do anything. She could be _anyone_.

And that was the summer that she had met Todd Jackson. He was hip. He had sun touched curls and dimples and he was handsomer than any boy that Tina had ever met. She liked him. She wanted him.

So she decided to take him.

Unfortunately, that brought her into a head-on collision with Laurie - an experience that Tina had never had before. It was like a rickshaw getting run over by a mack truck. Tina had never worked so hard for something and come out with nothing more than a stuttered apology from Todd as he left on wobbly legs and disgustingly stained sheets.

It broke her. It decimated more than it should have because it was the first thing that Tina had decided on taking for herself. And it made Laurie the center of everything that Tina hated in the female sex.

"You are _so_ bad!" Tina Forman could hear the obnoxious shriek of Laurie's little friend all the way through two doors and across a whole hall. The two college girls had been in that room all day talking about boys and sex. Which was an impressively long conversation.

"I'm not lying, Kate. _All_ shaved," Laurie emphasized.

Tina couldn't take it anymore. Rolling off of her small bed, she threw on a jacket and rushed out of the house. It had been little more than a day or two since the two girls had taken over the house with their nail polish and their hairdryers and already Tina wanted to tear the place down.

"Where are you going?" Tina gritted her teeth at the rough voice of her father, stalling at the bottom of the stairs with the front door so near. It was pure agony but somehow Tina forced her gaze from it to catch the steely gaze of her father.

"Um," she floundered, her eyes flicking to the door that lead to the kitchen where she could hear her mother humming merrily. Kitty was absolutely thrilled that she hadn't had a full-out brawl break out in the past day or so. She had been ready to put her skills as a nurse to use from the moment that Laurie had called with the news of her visit.

Only last May had the blonde left with a black eye after Tina had "accidentally" punched her older sister at Eric's birthday party.

"Eric?" Tina finally said, tossing aside the prospect of joining her mom in making another batch of cookies or some kind of yam thingie for Thanksgiving.

"You know I don't like you hanging out at that sex shop," Red said darkly but he was already digging around in his pocket for a ten. The Hub, Tina thought with a bit of relief, hurrying over to her father quickly and taking the money.

"Thank you, daddy," she whispered, kissing his cheek and heading out the door.

* * *

The Hub, contrary to a lot of peoples believes, wasn't a hang out for "cool kids." It was a hangout for the burnouts and the losers. They sat in the crappy, ripped booths that lined the walls and they huddled together around the dirty air hockey machine, talking about girls and sex and whatever else. In the seventeen years that Tina had lived in Point Place, she had never, ever seen any of the football players and cheerleaders spend more than an hour at the dingy short-order diner.

Tina breathed out a sigh of relief as the glass door swung open and she was able to step out of the chill autumn air and into the cozy diner.

"So, is she hot?" _Hyde_. That gravelly voice could only be Steven Hyde's. Her eyes immediately caught on the group of teens who had pushed two tables together and were now huddled around it, the main center of the attention being her brother who looked like a lost toddler with his knees clenched to his chest and his eyes dreamy and big.

He had been like that ever since Laurie's little friend had taken over his room.

"Why would you want to know?" Tina leaned around Hyde to grab up some fries that were piled onto a plate in the middle of the table, ignoring the odd fluttering that beat through her heart. She had been feeling this way for a while now whenever she got near Steven.

But in the end she chalked it up to early-onset heart failure. His cool blue eyes met hers through the usual screen of his sunglasses and a fire tingled up her spine. Heart failure and maybe a bit of indigestion.

Keeping his eyes, she leaned in until she was close enough to nearly touching, lowering her voice. "I was under the impression that you didn't go for bottle blondes with a ditzy streak."

His lips tipped up into a small smirk, his eyes flashing as he let out a laugh and Tina pulled away to take a seat next to Kelso and just across from the curly haired boy.

"Times can change, Tina," Hyde responded calmly, taking a gulp of his cola as he watched her eyes flash as she sat down heavily in the chair. "I've heard that those girls get pretty frisky between the sheets."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously, a streak of irritation taking over. "Odd. Last time I checked you wouldn't know much about anything that happens between the sheets besides sleeping."

The two tables roared.

"BURN!" Kelso crowed, pointing at Hyde who still sat with a practiced grin on his lips.

Tina felt a wave of triumph course through her brain as her brother gave her an awed smile. It was rare that anyone was able to get anything over Hyde. And when it happened, it was something to be celebrated. She smirked. In an even odder way, she felt ecstatic for having crushed Hyde's curiosity about Kate so effectively.

Hyde gave her an indulgent smile as the two tables slowly quieted down. "Hey...now that Laurie's back, you gonna start stuffing your bra again?"

Tina's smile dropped, heat searing her face as the tables broke out in appreciative gasps. He knew how to get her. Her insides knotted as his eyes dropped lazily to her boobs and she resisted the urge to pull her jacket tighter around her as his lips tipped up even more. Eric coughed, his eyes wide as they flicked between the pair. They had been going at it since middle school and it didn't look like they were any closer to softening it up.

Hyde's eyes flicked back to Eric and he took another gulp of his soda. "So, hot or not?"

Tina settled back, her eyes flicking away from Kelso who had a goofy smile on his face and to the redhead sitting a bit away from her between Jackie and the foreign exchange student - Fez for short.

"Course she's hot. All college girls are hot." Tina rolled her eyes, reaching across the table to take Eric's coke. Not that he notice. He was too busy taking in the all mighty advice of Kelso. She sighed. Boys were some of the dumbest creatures that she had had to learn about in school. "I mean, we've all seen the brochures, right?"

"Okay." Tina glanced over to see Jackie dragging Donna to her feet. Desperately, her eyes caught Tina's in a pleading stare. It was too bad that the cheerleader was such a force. Usually Tina could worm her way out of anything. Guiltily, she looked away, focusing down on dipping a fry in ketchup. "Donna. Help me play some music. _Right now."_

Contrary to popular belief, Tina knew that Jackie was a cold, calculating bitch. She was smart in a way that most people wouldn't understand. In fact, for the longest time, Tina hadn't. But when she had found Todd Jackson and her sister under her covers, it had become painfully clear how greatly Jackie outweighed the brunette in the world of relationships.

And in this moment, it looked like she was laying some of that wisdom down for Donna.

"She's hot." Hyde declared and Tina had to bite her lip to resist the urge to send her foot into his shin.

"Oh, _so_ hot!" her twin brother nearly sang. Boys were so _stupid_. Eric's eyes sought out Tina. "Tina saw her. She knows. Isn't she hot?"

"Wow," she said blandly, gulping as a bitter taste filled her mouth. "This is almost as bad as being at home."

"I just…" Eric's voice cracked and he pulled his knees tighter to his chin with a sigh and a watery eyed stare. Tina rolled her eyes. "She's so _pretty_. And she smells like...like toast."

Tina's nose wrinkled at the thought.

"So," Hyde started in, grinning across the table at the brunette. "Does she have bigger knockers than Laurie?"

"If she had bigger knockers than Laurie…" Kelso's eyes went distant as he did a series of calculations and then nodded. "That makes her up to my level in hotness. And I'm pretty hot."

"That's it." Tina stood, jerking on her coat with a scowl. "I'm leaving."

"Aw." Hyde threw back his head keeping a keen eye on the brunette as she stormed around the tables, giving Fez a loving pat on the head which he leaned into. She had been the first to find him and ever since she had treated him like a pet. "Don't leave, _sissy_. We'll love you no matter what. Even if your rack is only in the high Bs at the most."

 _That was it._ Tina froze, the words making her muscles stall out. Heat rolled up her spine before firm resolve curled her lips. Turning, she threw Hyde a slow smile and moved lazily toward him. Behind his glasses, she saw his blue eyes swirl darker as she leaned closer until she was a breath away from him, her arm propping her up on the table.

"A _perfect_ B, Steven," she whispered and smiled softly as fire lit her insides. On the table, Hyde's fingers twitched, moving forward to scrape along hers without thinking. "A perfect B that you'll never get your hands on. Poor thing."

With a small, fake pout, she pushed off from the table and made her way swiftly to the door. She didn't see the way that Hyde was staring after her, his eyes heated and his body turned toward where she had been.

"We'll see about that," he whispered, watching the door swing shut behind the brunette.

"Dude." Eric's fist crashed into Hyde's shoulder, sending him off-balanced. "That's my _sister_."

"No offense," Kelso said, his eyes also on the now empty glass door. "But your sisters hot enough to bang. Ten times over."

"Dude!" Both Hyde and Eric were on him before the lanky teen had any time to draw in another breath, sending Fez into a gale of laughter and clapping.


	3. I Kissed A Girl (And I'm Pretty Sure I Liked It)

"So you made out with a college girl?" Tina froze at the top of the steps to the basement, a sick sort of dread starting up in the pit of her stomach. Why was it that she always seemed to walk in on the most awful conversations?

Silently, she prayed that Kelso had been the one to jump into Kate's bed last night and not her idiot brother.

"Yep." Dammit. That was definitely Eric's voice. Red hot anger rolled through her veins. Red hot anger for Donna - sweet Donna Pinciotti who had been nothing but nice to her stupid, lanky brother.

"Start talking." _Hyde_. Of course the whole idiot group of boys were chirping around a guy that had just gotten his face gnawed off by a slutty college girl.

"Tell it like a story. Like a sexy story." Slowly and as quietly as possible, Tina made her way down the rickety, wooden stairs, rolling her eyes at Kelso's obnoxious request.

"She like jammed her whole entire tongue into my mouth." A little bit of this morning's french toast came up and Tina had to stop in the middle of the stairs to gag into her hands. "You wouldn't think a girl had like that much tongue - You know?!"

Finally, Tina was at the bottom of the stairs, a feeling of disgust taking over as she leaned against the wooden stake that held the stairs in place and stared at the cluster of boys.

"And then," Tina cut in, her eyes going icy as she caught her twin brothers. Who suddenly looked like a rabbit in front of a wolf as all eyes turned to the brunette. "She like totally started moaning and like wiggling her body up against mine-"

"Oh lord," Fez whispered, his voice small and his eyes wide as all three boy's besides her brother gaped at her.

"Did your sister make out with Kate too?" Kelso questioned Eric softly and a look of utter horror crossed her brother's face. "Did you get pictures?"

Tina's eyes narrowed as she made her way over to the couch. "But her tongue - her tongue started just growing and like moving and then all of a sudden - oh my god. I can't remember. It was like alien shit, man."

"Dude, what happened?" Kelso questioned and Tina shrugged, going around the couch to stand just beside Hyde and right in front of her brother.

"I don't know." Hyde's eyes caught hers and he tipped his head toward the open spot just beside him. No. What she needed to do next would require some better footing. Her eyes snapped as they turned slowly to meet her brother's. "All I know is that Kate's tongue is _really_ long and today my brother doesn't have a brain after frenching it with her."

Tina's hand flew out, catching Eric's ear in a harsh slap that sent his hair flying to the side and his eyes watering. All of the boys reeled back except for Hyde who looked utterly delighted. He had only seen Tina like this a couple of times and every time it didn't cease to amaze him. She looked like a she-demon, all red faced and angry. Steven Hyde thought she looked utterly gorgeous.

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" Tina snarled, leaning down so that her nails could dig into Eric's ear.

"Owowowowowowowowow." His eyes went watery as he tried futilely to claw her hand away.

"You are the _stupidest_ person I have ever come across," she continued on, not losing any steam as Hyde laughed, nodding with delight and Kelso started to do the same. Fez still looked bewildered and scared. "And you're my _brother_ \- my _twin_ brother which makes it even worse. That means that some of your stupid could have rubbed off on me when we came out of the womb together-"

"Ew," Eric squeaked out before he was grunting as Tina twisted his ear around, cutting him off.

"Who are you going out with?" His twin sister demanded and he blinked.

"Um…" She twisted his ear again, sending a short screech from his lips.

"DONNA PINCIOTTI, YOU DILLWEED!" She shoved him away from her and back into his chair, sitting heavily on the spot just beside Hyde. Her blue eyes were like crystallized shards of glass in Alaska as she glared across the limited space that separated her twin brother and herself. "Did she - I don't know - pop into your mind anytime before or after this whole excursion from reality?"

"Excursion -" Eric looked around at his buddies for help and Tina settled back for the show, not noticing Hyde's hand as it came to rest along her waist. Or how close she had scooted to him - their thighs nearly touching and their sides meeting. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Tina's foot collided with Eric's shin and Hyde grinned, his hand tightening on her waist.

"STOP HURTING ME!" Eric cried and for a moment, Tina thought that he might start blubbering like he had when they were in middle school and he had fallen off the monkey bars.

"Do you think for one second that Kate - beautiful, _hot_ , blue-eyed Kate - will look at you twice after this? I would say she's at about an eight-"

"Really? Only a eight?" Tina shrugged, meeting Hyde's curious gaze with an unsympathetic tilt of her head.

"There's something about her face that I don't really like," she confided and Hyde nodded, considering.

"You're only about a five at the best, Eric," Kelso said with a iffy smile, patting his shoulder in a consoling way. "I mean if you were at a ten like me-"

"Why are we counting?" Fez inquired, his brows furrowing.

"It's a way to judge hotness," Hyde informed him. "Ten's the hottest and unfortunately for our two-timing friend named Eric, five is average at best."

"Oh." Fez's eyes moved to Eric in consideration. "I think five is generous."

"Okay." Eric regained himself, shooting a quick glare to everyone. "Okay. I get it. You guys are just jealous. A hot, college girl kissed me and not you and you're all jealous. That's fine. I forgive you."

Tina nodded, crossing her legs. "This is coming from someone who totally isn't jealous of you - She played you."

For a moment, there was silence. And then Kelso leaned forward. "Are you sure you're not a little bit jealous? Like... jealous enough to go and show Kate what a _real_ kiss is?"

"In your nightie?" Fez added and Tina pressed her lips together as Hyde grinned.

"With us as witnesses?" The curly haired boy added mischievously.

Tina looked away, ignoring them all. "Listen, Eric. I'm your twin sister. _I know you_. And I also know girls like Kate. She isn't in to you - Think about it from her point of view. You're her friend's little brother-"

" _Scrawny_ little brother," Hyde added.

"With the 'action figures' in his room and the porn stash under his bed and a Star Wars poster hanging in your closet."

"I like to have the force with me in the morning's," Eric snapped and Tina rolled her eyes.

"Eric." Tina reached out, squeezing his hand. "Did she have sex with you?"

Everyone leaned forward, their breath bated and Eric blinked, suddenly looking uncomfortable.

"No - I mean - She kissed…" His shoulders slouched, his brows furrowing. "But then… I don't know. She kind of… Um… Oh no."

"What?" Hyde inquired and Eric's eyes flicked up. Tina smiled. There was her sweet brother.

"I don't know. I feel kind of guilty. Almost like...dirty."

"Dirty is good," Kelso jumped in and Tina bowed her head at the obnoxious words.

"I like feeling dirty," Fez laughed and then abruptly stopped as Tina caught his eyes.

"Shut up," Tina snapped, slamming her fist into Kelso's arm and then turning quickly back to her twin brother as the sleazeball howled. "Do you want to be like Michael Kelso? I'm surprised he doesn't have some weird penis disease already, Eric."

"HEY! I CAN HEAR YOU!"

"I think I gotta tell Donna," Eric said and Tina leaned back with a grin.

"Really?" Hyde suddenly jumped in and Tina tensed. "Well, on behalf of men everywhere-"

Hyde slapped Eric in the face, staring hard at the Tina's brother as she gaped at him. Suddenly, with an almost sickening clarity Tina realized that Hyde still had one hand on her waist. And that she was almost sitting on his lap. She remembered that he wasn't her boyfriend and that if he was, he would be slobbering over every girl in Wisconsin. And she would be the same girl who walked in on Todd Jackson fucking her sister.

She shoved away from the curly haired boy, ignoring his bewildered stare as she turned back to her brother as Kelso gave him a few wise words of advice. "The right thing to do would be to juggle 'em both until it blows up in your face."

Tina slapped Kelso in the face, pacing away from the group of men as irritation sizzled through her veins. Why were guys such dogs?

"You know that you can't hide anything," Tina snapped, jumping up onto the washing machine and glaring at a spot on the wall. "And not only do the three stooges know but I also know. You idiot."

"But…" Eric moved tentatively towards the sulking brunette, touching her shoulder. "You wouldn't tell her would you? Sis? Come on…"

Tina sighed, her shoulders wilting. "No," she mumbled out, dropping her gaze to the floor as Eric gave her a bone-crushing hug.

"That's my twin si-!" Eric stopped, all eyes snapping to the stairs as Donna came down, a smile on her lips. Tina looked away, guilt already clogging her pores. Eric wasn't the only one who couldn't hide anything.

"Hey!" Donna's eyes flicked around curiously at the stares. "What're you guys talking about?"

No one said anything. Tina didn't even think that anyone breathed. Sweat started to pop out along her brothers brow and belatedly, she realized that she was having the same reaction. Across the room, Hyde caught her gaze, grinning but Tina only scowled and looked away.

"I KISSED A GIRL!" Eric finally said and Tina let out a relieved breath, giving her brother a quick hug and bolting for the door as the basement was filled with male screams of outrage.

Tina had the sinking feeling that Eric and Donna were about to have their first fight - Well, whatever the hell they were.

"Hey, Tina." The brunette turned slowly at the voice, coming face to face with Hyde as he came up to the kitchen where Red and Kitty were feverishly trying to get ready for Thanksgiving. Kelso and Fez pushed past them both, heading quickly to the cookies at the kitchen table. "Everything okay?"

Tina had to remind herself harshly that Hyde and her weren't going out. She was his best friend's twin sister and that was it. It was like the whole college girl situation but instead of her being the college girl, she was instead the, scrawny, white boy who was too stupid to comprehend anything more than lust. She smiled thinly, crossing her arms.

"Peachy," Tina said and Hyde's brows furrowed.

"Yeah," he said slowly, his eyes wandering over her tense face. "Is this about the whole Eric thing?"

Her mouth went dry and suddenly she was so angry that she could have bit him if no one else were around. "You know what, Hyde? It _is_ about the whole Eric thing. You know that him and Donna have something going on."

Behind his glasses, Hyde's eyes narrowed. "Yeah. So?"

"Soo," she said slowly, tipping her head back so that she could glare at him more fully and jabbing a finger into his chest. "Why wouldn't you tell Donna? More than that, why would you want him to keep it a secret?"

For a moment, Hyde mulled it over, keeping eye contact with her. They were so close now that it looked like at any moment they might touch. In fact, to everyone else in the room, it seemed like the only option. Kitty was holding Red back from going over to the pair and Kelso and Fez were giggling to each other behind the fridge door. Laurie's blue eyes narrowed as she smirked, blotting icing onto cupcakes as she watched the show.

"I didn't think it was any of my business, bunny." Tina's hackles raised as her eyes went wide Bunny - he had been calling her that ever since he hid in her room and found her stuffed animals during a hide and seek game. Now though, he knew that it meant something more. Cute girls were nicknamed bunny.

She seethed, sure he was doing it to get a rise out of her.

"Whatever," she muttered darkly, pushing past him to go up to her room.

* * *

"I can't believe you forgot grandma." It was taking everything that Tina had not to break out into hysterical laughter, her eyes staying firmly on the mashed potatoes and turkey in front of her. Eric and Laurie had long since booked it to the car and were currently speeding towards their forsaken grandmother, leaving Tina with Red, Kitty, and... _Kate_.

Tina's smile dropped immediately as she shot the blonde a glare out of the corner of her eyes. What a _slut_.

"Now, now, Tina," Red said warningly, keeping a keen eye on Kitty who was stabbing at her green beans in anxious silence at the moment. He searched for words. "We _all_ forgot your grandmother."

Apparently it was better that five whole individuals had misplaced a whole entire other person. As it was, Tina held a certain kind of dislike for her grandmother. Last Thanksgiving, she had caught her calling Kitty a whore. Tina had promptly responded that it was better to be a whore than a cranky old hag with too much hairspray. She had been grounded for a week which left her in the care of Kitty. Who had watched movies with her every night and given her packed lunches that Eric had even envied. And that Hyde had mooched off of.

"So, Kate…" Tina started in slowly and both Kitty and Red's eyes snapped up to watch their youngest daughter intently. They had raised her for too many years to misplace that slow, considerate voice for anything more than venom waiting in the mouth of a hidden snake.

However, Kate had only just come to the Forman household and she was too dumb to consider Tina more than a passing threat. Little did she know that years around Laurie had given her the proper tools to tear the same sex down. Tina smiled slowly, sensing a willing, soft victim in the dumb, doe eyes of Kate.

"How many pounds have you put on since you started college?" Kate's smile dropped, her face paling as Kitty gasped and Red jerked a bit at the unexpectedly vicious question.

"I - I haven't -" Kate's eyes flicked around for help. Little did she know that the only thing keeping her in this house was her "friendship" with Laurie. Red had learned about Eric's little kiss just that morning and had quickly passed the news onto Kitty who was equally astonished.

Tina swirled her mashed potatoes. "I only ask because I saw our scale moved in the bathroom. Oh - and also a picture of you when you were in high school with my sister."

The youngest Forman gave a sympathetic wince, patting the shell-shocked blonde on the shoulder. "It must have been really stressful having to live up to someone with a waistline like my sisters. Such a _big_ difference."

That was the final blow. Tina could see it in the hurt that flashed through Kate's eyes and the way her lip was trembling. She really shouldn't have messed with Tina's twin brother and then tried to play it off like she wasn't at fault. Tina knew that Red and Kitty couldn't do anything about it but she certainly could. Especially for Donna.

"I need - I'm going -" Kate jerked out of her seat, making a sprint for the upstairs bathroom like she was being chased by Cerberus himself. Work done, Tina sat back with a delighted smile.

"That wasn't very nice, Tina," Red said slowly, picking at the food on his place and Tina nodded.

"I'm sorry, daddy." She wasn't sorry at all. In fact, she felt a lot better than she had since her little talk with Hyde.

"Very mean," Kitty agreed, picking up her box of cigarettes. "Have some cinnamon sugar carrots."

* * *

Every year, the Forman's had a sort of after Thanksgiving party. Everyone that wanted to come came. Which was actually a very limited affair considering that it was mainly the Pinciotti's and Eric and Tina's friends. And since Eric's friends were Tina's friends, it was a very short list.

"I heard that you made Kate cry." Laurie was looking at Tina like she was about to eat her younger sister alive, her blue eyes narrowed and her arms crossed. Tina sighed, glancing over to the stares to see Kate's red-rimmed eyes staring out through the bars.

"Did she tell you that she frenched Eric?" From the look that Laurie had on her face, obviously that hadn't come up in the conversation.

"Aren't Eric and Donna-?"

"Yup." Although Laurie didn't like to admit ever liking anyone, she did like the Pinciotti girl. She held a level of spunk that most girls didn't. And although it was a secret buried far, far deep inside of her cold, black heart, Laurie did hold an astonishing amount of protectiveness for her two siblings. Laurie's eyes snapped dangerously.

"Interesting. Good to know." Tina could only assume by the thin smile that her sister wore that Tina's half-assed comments were going to be nothing compared to Laurie's full attention.

The brunette grinned, sitting back in her father's deep chair. Life was definitely looking better than it had 24 hours ago.


	4. Crushes and Cologne

_When Tina first met Steven Hyde, she thought that he was the most dirty, rude little boy that had ever wandered into her driveway._

" _Well now!" Her mother laughed, clapping. This was the first time that Eric had come home with anyone other than the school bullies._

_Mutely, Tina followed her parents out their sliding door and onto the patio that hugged their driveway. Dressed in a flannel, fluffy dress with frills and a bow in her auburn curls, she looked like the nicest girl on the block. Even Bob Pinciotti said that she was the cutest. And he had a daughter of his own. Tina crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing on the boy who was already taller than her twin brother even though they were only months apart in age._

_"Who do we have here?"_

" _Mommy," Tina cut in before anyone could answer, drawing the attention of the four people. Frowning, she set her eyes on the boy who had unnaturally curly hair and flounced up to stand beside her brother. "He took money from Eric."_

_Tina's chubby fingers snapped out to the curly haired boy, her blue eyes murderous. "Give it back."_

_It was at that moment that Hyde knew that he was either going to marry this girl or make her cry. Maybe even both. They honestly meant the same thing in his mind._

" _Your face is stupid," Hyde said without thinking, reaching out with grubby fingers to yank on Tina's hair._

" _DADDY!" The auburn hair girl shrieked, her shiny, black shoes stomping against the pavement as Kitty gave an awkward laugh and Red leaned down with a smile to scoop up his youngest daughter. "Daddy, he pulled my hair!"_

" _I saw it, sweetie," Red said patiently as Eric made introductions and Kitty moved the conversations away from Tina's outbursts._

" _Pull his hair back," Tina ordered quietly, staring into her father's eyes as he hoisted her higher in his arms._

_His other daughter was nearly four years older than his youngest two and she had been more demanding than Tina would ever be able to muster up to. He had been through these types of demands more often than he would like to admit. Sighing, he glanced down at the small, curly haired boy and saw his eyes intently focused on Tina._

" _That would make me a very bad adult, Tina. You're going to have to take him on on your own." And then with a peck on the cheek, he set her down._

_For a moment, Tina was at a loss for words. It was her mom who usually told her no, not her father. What was happening today? A grubby, little boy showed up at her doorstep and all of a sudden her family was feeding and washing him? And then her dad told her no? This was utterly bewildering._

_Tina's lip pushed out, her eyes narrowing as they focused on Hyde once more._

" _Out of the way, shrimp." And then he_ _ **pushed**_ _her, walking into_ _ **her**_ _house with his stupid, dirty shoes and with_ _ **her brothers**_ _quarter in his pocket._

_Her little brain reeled. Steven Hyde had entered her life and all she could think in her frilly, flannel dress was one thing: This meant war._

* * *

"GIVE IT BACK, STUPID!" Tina shrieked, trying to reach the book as Hyde grinned down at her, laughing as she went up on her tip toes.

"In all the years that I've known you, you've never picked up a book willingly." Hyde's eyes grew lethal as his head tipped to the side, catching her gaze. Tina caught her breath, her fingers balling into the front of his winter jacket and her front pressed against hers. "Got something to tell me, _bunny_?"

"Bunny" had started talking with one David Milbank. She had refused to go out with him but he had continued to talk to her... Even she had to admit that the development was astonishing considering he had been a scrawny, little dweeb the last time she had seen him with scoliosis and asthma. Not to mention that her twin brother had totally kicked his ass when they were in elementary school together. The thought made her smirk, her mood suddenly lightening as she thought about David. He was interesting. He had nice hair and he had chiseled out. In all terms, he was a hunk. And in Point Place, it was real hard to find someone mildly intelligent with a nice set of biceps who happened to have a rich family as well.

"You know what, Hyde?" Steven's eyes widened for a moment before they narrowed on the small brunette. Tina's smile widened even more as she leaned into him, delight along with a feminine sense of pride and excitement lighting through her as his eyes darkened. "You can have the book."

With that, she pushed away from him, shoving him back into the lockers and flouncing out of the double doors that would lead to Point Place High School's parking lot. Disgruntled, he looked down at the book, frowning at the creepy, little girl on the cover, her face partially covered by _The Exorcist_. He should just throw it away. The long haired little sissy boy that Tina had been hanging around with had given it to her after dropping her off yesterday.

Hyde grunted, remembering the brief lapse of consciousness from his school day naps to see her laughing with that bozo.

"Dammit," he snarled, shoving the paperback into his bag and storming out to find both Kelso and Tina looking around with confused expressions on their faces.

"What's going on?" November was well upon them and already it felt like winter had decided to give them the middle finger. They had already had their first snow and the Old Man Barns the janitor had already started to lay out salt.

"Eric's not here," Tina mumbled, pulling her jacket a bit tighter around her and glancing back at the Vista Cruiser which was parked behind her.

"Eric's always here," Kelso said, looking a bit lost.

Along with Red giving Eric the Vista Cruiser, he had also put a variety of stipulations upon it. The top one being that Tina would never ever be left out in the cold or on the side of the road while Eric still had the ability to drive her places. And that's exactly what she was right now - on the side of the road and shivering from the near freezing temperatures.

There was no way that Eric, her flesh and blood, the one that she had protected from the weggie bullies and the mathletes, would leave her out here to freeze.

"Do you think that he's okay?" Tina gnawed at her lower lip, sniffling as the wind whipped her eyes teary, her collar turned up against the harsh weather. Her eyes turned to stare up at Hyde who cussed softly and took off his scarf to wrap roughly around her neck.

Tina let out a breath, snuggling into the warm cocoon of cloth and breathing Hyde's familiar scent of some kind of harsh drink like whisky or rum and the woodsy burn of a bonfire. Her mind eased, her eyes fluttering shut.

"He'll be here," Hyde said roughly, buttoning up his jacket and pulling Tina gruffly into his side. She let out another happy breath. He was warm and she was freezing and she had to admit that he felt really good.

"I hope so," she heard Kelso say quietly.

Twenty minutes later they were huddled up together like penguins, shivering against the foil winter winds that were laced with ice. For the first time in her seventeen years of living, she thanked god that her brother had brought together this rag-tag group of people. Being squashed between these two boys was the only thing keeping her from getting frost bitten.

"Where the hell is Forman, man?" Hyde snarled over Tina's head, his hands rubbing roughly at her arm. By now, all that could be seen of her face was a tuft of auburn hair and closed eyes. "This isn't like him."

"I'm really starting to get worried," Kelso said, looking around anxiously. "What if something happened to him?"

"Nothin' happened to him," Hyde snapped, glancing down at the girl tucked into his side.

For a moment, no one said anything. By now, Tina's mind was somewhere far off, her focus centered on the warmth that was coming from Hyde's side. The rest of her mind had turned into a slushie.

"Wh - what if he's lost or - or hurt somewhere?" Kelso insisted, bumping against Tina as he shuddered against the wind, turning to look at Hyde.

Gritting his teeth, the curly haired boy sent him a glare. "Calm down, lassie. I'm sure Timmy's just fine."

"Ke-Kelso's right," Tina forced out through chattering teeth, a red nose peeking out from Hyde's scarf as her eyes flicked between the two men. "He - he's always on time. Remember that one - one time that he freaked because he was going to miss the spelling bee and then he - then he went to the school without any undies on?"

When the school bullies had got ahold of him and found out this particular fact it had been the end of the Forman reputation all the way up until high school. Well… Whatever rep was left.

"See?!" Kelso said, his eyes going wide. "Maybe we should check the school morgue."

Two pairs of blue eyes speared him. It was a good thing that the winter air had cooled Tina's usual retorts because he had just opened up a goldmine.

"Kelso, the school doesn't have a morgue."

"Then what do we pay all those taxes for?!" Kelso exclaimed.

Tina had had enough. She could feel most of her body and the parts that were still sending messages to her brain were mainly telling her that she was in pain. Her stomach grumbled. And that she was also hungry. Turning pleading eyes to Hyde, she hoisted her bag higher on her shoulder.

"We gotta go home." The curly haired boy bit his lip, staring at the sidewalk that would lead to the main road.

The walk was only about twenty minutes at the most but in this weather it would be awful. His eyes flicked to the car. Forman had to be here soon…

"Come on, Hyde," Tina pleaded, grabbing his hand and tugging him along until he had no other option but to move. Kelso followed behind, his eyes worried and wide as they flicked once more to the Vista Cruiser.

"You know what kills me?" Hyde suddenly snarled, his fingers tightening on Tina's even as he turned to stare at the slightly taller boy. "You do better in school than I do."

Kelso gave a goofy smile, laughing and tapping his skull. "Yeah. It's all up here."

There was no way to reply to that statement.

The walk to Tina's house was sullen and painful. Hyde's boots chafed against his ankles. Kelso's shoes were too thin to keep out even the smallest amounts of snow. Tina kept sneezing and her eyes kept watering from the wind so much that she could barely see. The only thing that kept the three of them going was a mixture of desperation, worry, and anger. She could feel the third nearly rolling off of Hyde as he walked behind her, grumbling, his hand tightening and loosening in intervals as he got angrier and then settled for brief moments.

"What the hell is that?" Hyde muttered as he came to a stop in front of the Forman driveway, his eyes on the sleek, red car in the driveway.

Tina's brows furrowed and unfurrow as she stared at the car, her mind reeling.

"That's Buddy's car," she finally whispered and Kelso gave an awed gasp. "Buddy Morgan."

Buddy was not only one of the richest kids in school, he was also one of the most popular. Which begged the big question of why such a person's car would be in her driveway.

"Woopty doo," Hyde snarled, storming past the car and incidentally dragging Tina along behind him as he made his way down the back steps to the basement door and flung it open.

Tina gasped. There sat the whole gang, all cozy gathered around the TV watching Gilligan's Island. And her brother - her _twin_ brother was right there with them. He had forgotten all about her and Hyde and Kelso. What a _jerk_. Her eyes caught on the new guy sitting in Hyde's usual spot, his big, brown, doe eyes going wide as he stared across the room. God. He even _looked_ rich as hell.

"There you guys are," Eric said like nothing in the world was wrong. "Where have you been?"

Hyde walked slowly towards Eric, his hand still holding Tina's in a murder grip as he neared her twin, incidentally dragging her along after him.

"Where have we - Where have _you_ been?!" Kelso snapped and Tina shifted so that she could see what was going on around Hyde's shoulder as Kelso jabbed a finger at the Eric. "We've been worried sick about you!"

"Lies!" Tina declared, jumping up and down so that she could get a solid ten seconds of eye contact with her stupid brother. Hyde had become an immovable rock, steaming over with rage and she sure as hell, wouldn't be able to move him or make him let go of her hand. "I may have been worried before but now I just want to kick your scrawny ass!"

"We had to walk all the way here, man," Hyde was finally able to snarl out. "My feet are killin' me!"

"You dumbass!" Tina piped up. "Do you know how cold it is out there?!"

"Are your fingers broken?" Kelso demanded, picking up Eric's fingers to examine them quickly before shoving them away again. "You can't use a phone?!"

"I am your _sister_ , you heathen!" Tina snarled, wiggling her way under Hyde's arm so that she could jab a finger at her brother. "We are _twins_. You left your _twin_ out in the ice and wind - I could have died!"

"It's freezing outside," Hyde snapped, his eyes murderous. "And I'm wearin' my uncle's boots so now I have _blisters_."

"I'm telling daddy on you," Tina snarled, getting an immense amount of pleasure from how pale Eric's face went. "And then he's going to shove his foot so far up your ass-"

"Woah! Velma, Shaggy, Scooby we got company," Donna cut in and three sets of eyes turned on the lanky teen.

Tina honestly wouldn't have cared at this point if God himself had driven Eric home in that stupid, fancy red car.

Her feet tripped over each other as Hyde stalked around Eric to his seat, glad that she had gotten a comfortable hold on Hyde's hand. Buddy's eyes went wide.

"Buddy Morgan," Hyde said calmly like a panther about to eat an ostrich. "Yeah. I know you."

Hyde had never liked rich kids. It had even taken a great deal of time for him to like the Forman's and they were middle class at best. Tina bumped into Hyde's back as he came to a halt besides Buddy, glaring down at the unwelcome guest.

"I-I-" Buddy tried to collect his thoughts. "Yeah. Um, I guess it's my fault - I gave him a ride home so uh-"

"Get out of my chair!" Hyde roared and even Tina had to jump as Buddy sprang away, stumbling towards the door

"Yeah!" the rich kid stuttered, trying to laugh it off. "I - um… Really had to be going anyway… Oh hey. Your car's still at school isn't it-"

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT IT IS!" Kelso screamed, crossing his arms like a petulant child.

"I could drop you off," Buddy said and Tina rolled her eyes.

"Of course you will," she said acidically, trying to cross her arms but belatedly realizing that Hyde still had her hand, his eyes on the TV as she stood awkwardly by his chair.

"Oh hey. Yeah. Sure." Eric said, getting off the couch and Tina looked away, gritting her teeth. "And hey, guys - I'm real sorry I forgot about you."

"Hey do you want to drive-" Eric was already sprinting up the stairs, yelling, "Hell yes!" with Fez close on his heel.

"MONEY CAN'T BUY YOU EVERYTHING!" Tina shrieked spitefully after him.

Jackie coughed. "It can buy you a car. Which is what you guys got stood up for."

 _Touche_. Tina's lips pressed together. The brown haired, rich girl was right about that. Kelso sat down heavily on the couch. "He just ditched us again."

Sighing, Tina glanced down at her predicament. Hyde still had a hold of her hand. And it kind of seemed like he knew that he did because his thumb was running slow circles along the back of her hands.

"Um, could you…?" Tina motioned to her hand, trying to keep the exchange as low key as possible as Kelso and Jackie had their little... _thing_. For a moment, he stared up at her before a flicker of mischief warmed his eyes and he grinned.

"You're more than welcome to, bunny," he said, patting his lap.

Tina sent him a glare, going to slap him upside the head when Donna's voice cut through the room along with the sound of both Kelso and Jackie leaving.

"Okay," she said, her eyes curious and shrewd all at once as she turned to stare at Hyde and me. "What's your problem with Buddy anyway?"

"I just don't like him because he made me walk home in a skirt," Tina grumbled, finally giving up and sinking into Hyde's lap. She was too tired to fight it at the moment and the basement was a lot more chilly in the winter than when they came here in the summer.

Hyde smirked, his arms instantly wrapping around her waist and adjusting her more comfortably on his lap. Donna rolled her eyes.

"What about you, Hyde? Why the hate?"

Hyde's eyes snapped suddenly, his grip on Tina tightening as she settled against his chest. "I mean, he's got the money, the car, the family. The teachers like him, the councillors like him - Everybody likes him! I hate him."

He said the last part so vehemently that even Tina had to laugh in astonishment, her arm wrapping around Hyde's neck.

"That sounds…" Tina shrugged as Hyde's eyes flashed up at her. "That sounds a lot like jealousy."

"I hate him," Hyde mumbled again after a moment of silence, turning his face away from Tina and frowning.

"Hyde…" Donna started in tentatively. "Don't you think you're overreacting just a little bit?"

Tina winced, sensing the oncoming storm in the tightening of Hyde's shoulders under her arm.

"Donna…" he started slowly. "Let me tell you something, okay? When high school's over, Buddy Morgan's going to a great college. You know where I'm gonna be? Right here in my uncle's boots."

He said it with such certainty that even Tina had to look away, her fingers going absently to curl in the strands of hair that feathers Hyde's nape. It was a comforting motion that she had learned from having to soothe Eric whenever they were little and Red and Kitty had to work overtime.

"Well," Donna struggled on. "At least you got great friends."

Her smile turn secretive as she got up, her eyes moving to Tina. "Some friends better than others."

"Oh get out of here," Tina griped, grabbing up a pillow and hurling it at Donna's back as she reached the door.

"And um-" The redhead sighed, the next words clearly painful. "I'll always be here."

"Yeah. Yeah." Hyde grumbled, his eyes already back on the TV as Donna gave a laugh and left.

For a moment, neither Tina nor Hyde said anything. Suddenly, Tina felt like a knot was slowly loosening and tightening in her chest, her face flaming as she realized that one of Hyde's hands had moved from her waist to her thigh and was make soft trails from her knee all the way up to her hip. Did he realize that he was doing that? She gulped.

"Um, Hyde-" Her voice came out a lot more cracked than she had wanted it to.

"Does that include you?" Tina blinked, her eyes snapping to Hyde's as his hand stilled on her thigh. He was looking at her - The way that he was looking at her was really weird. It made her head go light. It made - Her eyes cut down to his lips.

"Wh-what?" She stuttered out, a shiver running up her spine as the hand around her waist drew a lazy line up her back.

"Will you always be here with me?" Her brows furrowed, her heart beating faster than she had ever felt it beat as his eyes grew heavy lidded. Was he staring at her lips?

"Yeah," she whispered, swaying forward as she felt his calloused fingers graze the back of her neck and draw her towards him. Her hand splayed across his worn shirt, under his winter jacket and over his heart. He was so warm. And he smelt like a bonfire and whiskey. "I'll always be here."

"Good," he whispered and he was so close that she could feel the warmth of his breath against her lips. Her eyes fluttered shut-

"TINA!"

Tina flew backwards, sprawling on the floor as her heart jumped into her throat and her legs tangled beneath her. Her mom's voice was just at the top of the stairs. She gulped, looking like a ruffled deer in the middle of the road with a big mack truck speeding towards her.

If the situation wasn't so achingly disastrous, it would have been funny.

"Tina, do you and Steven want some cocoa and cookies?" She blinked, staring up at the boy who was still sitting in his chair, eyes pained.

"I - um -" She floundered, straightening her skirt when she realized that she was flashing Hyde. All that left her mouth before she was sprinting up the stairs was a squeak, her face as red as a Christmas ribbon.


	5. Nice Guys Come in Last

It was one moment of weakness. That was what Tina told herself as she watched Buddy Morgan and Eric play basketball in their driveway. It had been two days since the basement incident and she had shown an amazing aptitude for avoidance. It helped that Eric was all into the new guy so Hyde and Kelso were hanging out more at The Hub than the basement. Tina bit her nails, bringing her knees to her chest.

If Tina thought about it really hard, she could fool herself into thinking that it was all a dream. A wonderful, bone-melting, achingly good dream.

But in the end a dream was all it could be! Because it was Hyde - dirty, rude Hyde. Hyde with all the smart comments. Hyde the bully. Hyde the guy that was best friends with her brother and who she could _definitely_ never like and who she knew could _definitely_ never like her back.

"Tina!" The auburn-haired girl jerked, nearly toppling the wicker chairs that were on their patio as she whirled to face her mother who was peeking out from the sliding doors. Kitty's eyes narrowed for a moment, her fingers clenching on the phone that she held against her front. She knew that look. Having two children (one whom had gone threw a whole series of boys) had made her acutely aware of that watery-eyed stare. She smiled. "There's a boy on the phone for you."

"A boy?" Tina squeaked out, the wicker armrests crunching beneath her grip as her mind went right where it shouldn't. Was it Hyde?

"David Milbank," Kitty said, her smile growing as her daughter's face fell slightly and she got up, looking a lot more steady than she had before. She gave a loud laugh as Tina sauntered into the room, plopping down on one of the kitchen table chairs.

"Hello?" she deadpanned, her eyes glassy as they stared at the two boys through the glass door who were laughing like they were in some 1950's comedy.

"Hey - Hello - Tina?"

"Yep?"

"Hey!" David was such a nice guy. He was - I mean… Why couldn't Tina think of anything to say about him? He was nice. She guessed he was smart? He had nice hair. Kind of. It was okay. "So… Um, I was wondering if you might want to hang out tonight?"

"Um…" Unintentionally, she grimaced. David was _really_ nice. Whenever she asked him to get her something or do something he would. Whenever he started to put his hands places where they shouldn't be, all she had to do was tell him and he would stop. He would look annoyed and give this stupid little sigh but he would do it. David Milbank was just a really. Nice. Guy. "I don't really-"

Tina's breath clogged in her throat and she dropped to the floor. Hyde was here. Hyde was here with Kelso and he was in the driveway.

"Tina? Tina, are you okay?" It felt like she was in elementary school again and they were playing hide and seek. Her heart beat painfully in her chest as she watched the curly haired boy look around in agitation. It was painful being around him like this.

"I would love to go to the movies with you, David," she forced out, army crawling her way swiftly across the floor. It was a good thing that her mother had gone back to her room.

"Oh - Awesome. So we're going to the mov-"

"Yep." Sweat collected at the nape of her neck as she finally reached the telephone. Every second that went by, she thought that she could hear that door opening. "Pick me up in an hour. Maybe less... Please be here in ten minutes."

"Woah. Ten minutes?" There was an odd gleeful note in his voice that she didn't like. Her eyes narrowed and she stopped crawling, lying limply on the kitchen floor as her mind tried to work through that tone of voice.

"Ten minutes," she finished slowly.

"FORMAN!" Tina nearly jumped out of her skin, scrambling to her feet and slamming back against the wall as she stared in horror at the boy in front of her. Hyde gave her a smirk, his eyes lighting up behind the shade of his sunglasses. "What are you doing?"

Tina gulped, her mind racing. Casual. Casual was the way to go. Tina slouched against the wall. "Hey. Hello. Um… Wazzup?"

"What?" Shit. She had completely forgotten about David.

"Nothin - Sorry."

"Who are you on the phone with?" Hyde inquired and Tina's heart went crazy as he moved forward.

"No one!" she screamed, immediately regretting the outburst as his eyes went predatory and his smirk grew. Quickly, she turned away from the pair, hauling it into the living room and as far away from them as she could. "David! I'll see you in ten-"

"Who's David?" Tina shrieked as strong arms curled around her waist, hauling her back into a solid chest. Tina's heart did an odd skip, her stomach twisting as fire lit her skin.

But right now she couldn't think about how attracted she was to Hyde. Or what that smirk was doing to her. She needed to focus on David.

"Tina? Everything alright?" Desperately, Tina tried to keep the phone as far away from Hyde as possible.

"EVERYTHING'S NOT FINE, YOU DILLWEED!" Hyde screamed, dragging Tina closer to him, his head nudging into the side of his neck as his smile turned lethal. "I'M TAKING YOUR GIRL, MAN!"

Tina's blood went cold in her veins. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that Hyde was only joking. She knew that his words were nowhere close to what she was thinking. Tina Forman was thinking about the near kiss two days ago and how soft his hair felt and how his breath was tickling her neck and his jaw was rough against her throat. And how he smelled so good. And how she wanted him to ask her out and be someone that he definitely wasn't.

And all that made her lash out, anger and embarrassment and hurt making her push a lot harder than it had ever been.

Hyde's eyes widened, his brows furrowing as he stumbled back.

"Stop it," Tina snarled, jabbing a finger at him as she went back to the phone. She could feel that her eyes were dangerously watery and that her face was as red as an apple. "I'm fine. I swear. I'll see you in five, David."

And with that, she reached into the kitchen and hung up the phone with a crash. All that was left was Hyde. Tina crossed her arms suddenly feeling very small and very lost.

"What was that about?" Hyde asked, his voice low and his mouth tight as he jerked his head at the kitchen door.

Tina mulled it over, gnawing at her lip. Two days ago - in the basement - that had been the best day of her life. Maybe that was a bit much. It was definitely in the top three. But that was two days ago and today was today. And today Hyde wasn't her boyfriend and David was a _really_ nice guy.

And Hyde definitely wasn't.

"I'm going on a date with David Milbank," she stated, her head tipping back and her eyes meeting his. "We're dating."

For a moment, neither of them said anything. Hyde's adam's apple bobbed as he glanced away, his fingers flexing. When he met her eyes again, his gaze was icy.

"Why are you telling me this?" He snapped and her lips thinned as anger burned through her.

There was no other way to go.

"What happened in the basement won't happen again," Tina said, the words feeling like shards of glass being pulled from her throat. Hyde's eyes narrowed.

A thin smile curved his lips. "Which part? The part where you were in my lap? Or the part where we almost-"

"All of it," Tina snapped out, her face burning as she looked away. Why did this hurt so much? Why was this so hard? Licking her lips, she tried to force away some of the pain. She needed to get out of here. Shaking her head, she bolted for the stairs, brushing past Hyde and whispering, "Let's just pretend like it never happened, Hyde."

* * *

Instead of going to the movies, David had us go to a musical. Apparently he thought that girls liked that more.

"That was awesome!" he exclaimed, grinning as we filed out of the theater and into the parking lot.

Tina hadn't honestly been listening to anything that had gone on through the entire thing. She didn't even know the name. Her mind had been on other things. Things that made her head hurt and her heart feel like a punching bag. Still, she forced a smile.

"It was real nice, David."

"Hey." David stalled out in the middle of the parking lot, his eyes dropping to the ground before he gave me a shy smile. "I was thinking - Do you maybe want to…"

Tina's brows tipped up, her arms sliding into place over her chest. No. This couldn't be happening. David was the nice guy. David didn't ask girls under the covers after a single date. They hadn't even started dating yet!

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to head over to a motel or something." He grinned, nodding and Tina let out a disgusted huff.

"My brother was right to beat you up," she hissed, shoving him away from her and storming towards the road that would lead to her street.

"Wait! Tina!"

"OH MY GOD!" Tina shrieked, her eyes catching on a red car in the middle of the parking lot.

And there in the passenger seat was her twin brother. Kissing Buddy Morgan.

"Tina? Wha-" Tina whirled, shoving David away from the sight.

"Get out of here, Milbank!" she screamed, shoving him again and he stumbled away with a bewildered expression.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH WOAH WHA - YOU -" Tina sprinted for the car, watching in horror as her brother slammed against his door, staring in utter shock at Buddy. "You're gay."

"Me? No. I'm not gay."

"You're not but you - you just kissed me?"

Tina was at the door. "Okay. I'm gay."

"That's right you are!" Tina snapped, opening up the passenger door and jabbing a finger at the scrawny boy. "Did you just take advantage of my twin brother?!"

"Woah!" Buddy exclaimed, holding up his hands, his eyes going wide. "We were just-"

"Playing tongue hockey?!" Tina demanded, Eric's hand finding hers as he hyperventilated in his seat.

For a moment, Buddy stared at her. "You… Kind of look like him."

"That's it!" Tina wormed her way over her brother and onto the middle console. "You are driving me and my brother home, pal. And no tongues or hands will be taken out of your designated zone, do you hear me?"

"Listen-"

"Do you hear me?!" Tina barked, poking him in the chest as his brows went up. Silently, he nodded, starting the car. Her eyes flicked to her twin brother, bringing a hand up to move his face this way and that. He still looked shell-shocked, his eyes dreamy. "Are you okay?"

His lips were actually slightly swollen.

"He - he kissed me, sis," Eric whispered hoarsely and Tina squeezed his hand.

"How could you do this to him?" Tina demanded, shooting an icy glare to Buddy. "He's too innocent. He barely even gets to first base with Donna."

"Wait. Donna? He's going out with that freakishly tall, red head?" Buddy asked, clearly bewildered. "We've been spending so much time together - I just thought…"

"Oh no, Donna," Eric squeaked out, his eyes going watery and Tina turned to fully stare down at her twin brother.

"You've been giving him mixed signals?" she whispered.

"What - NO!"

"Totally." Tina was inclined to believe Buddy a little bit more than her brother. For a moment, no one said anything, Buddy's eyes flicking to the console that Tina was sitting on. "You know that's not legal, right?"

"Okay. Our house is just around the corner, police officer," Tina said sarcastically.

"I don't… I've been friends with Hyde for years and I've never put the moves on him," Eric said, his voice cracking as he tried to rationalize what had just happened. Good God. Couldn't she get away from the Hyde subject?

"Well, I don't blame you. That guy's a jerk."

"WOAH!" Tina snarled, turning to fully glare at the little, rich boy. "Why don't you calm down there, Elvis? You ain't so hot either. You went after _Eric_."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Her twin brother exclaimed, reeling back to stare up at his sister who simply stared at him for a moment.

"Just look in the mirror," she finally said bluntly then she gnawed at her nails in fake terror. "Oh sorry. It's all covered up with Star Trek."

"Commander Spock is both telepathic and he can use the Vulcan Neck Pinch so I think you need to back off," Eric defended and Tina rolled her eyes. For a moment, there was silence. "You can't tell Hyde, Tina."

"Oh yeah," Buddy nodded, wincing. "Don't tell Hyde."

"What? Why would I be the one to tell him?" Tina gasped, astonished.

Eric considered, wincing as they pulled into the driveway. "I mean you two have that…"

He made some random motions with his hands.

"Yeah. Aren't you two going out?" Buddy jumped in, genuinely curious.

Tina was mortified, her face going beet red. "I-I-"

"You two were holding hands the other day," Buddy pointed out and Eric nodded.

"They're not really - You know," Eric said, his lips thinning as he nodded.

Buddy let out a sigh, rubbing his temples. "You're group is so messed up, man."

"You get used to it."

"OKAY!" Tina snarled, sliding out from the sun roof and Buddy sighed for her not to. "Screw you guys. This isn't about me. This is about you two and your weird sexual chemistry. And Hyde's gonna find out anyway so-"

With that she stuck out her tongue and stormed into the house, making a beeline straight to her room. She was livid.

But she definitely wasn't going into the basement where she knew Hyde was.


	6. Light My Fire

To the Forman household, Christmas was a lot like summer when you were in high school; Everyone always anticipated it but by the time the last week rolled around your skin was on fire and you were ready to tear your own eyes out.

It was a week til the big day and Tina was feeling those same urges as she watched Laurie apply another coat of Kiss Me Silly red lip gloss and then smile at herself in the reflection of the stove.

"College has really brought out your inner slut and I am _loving_ it, Laurie," Tina sang as she slathered some icing on a new batch of cupcakes that her mom had just pulled out of the oven. Laurie's eyes narrowed venomously before she gave a thin smile.

"How many boyfriends have you had again?"

Tina smiled sweetly. "More than you - considering I spend more time talking to them than on my back _underneath_ them."

 _Score_. Tina was so remembering this moment as she watched Laurie's face light up to a crimson tone and her mouth open and close for a moment. She looked like a fish struggling to breathe out of water.

"You girls being nice?" Red said gruffly as he made his way out the door, stopping briefly to give each of the girls a quick peck on the cheek and grab his lunch.

"Yes, Daddy," Tina and Laurie said at once, each of them grabbing up an icing tube and starting in on the snowman-shaped cookies.

"Good," Red said with a sharp nod and an even sharper once over of his two daughters. Sweetness was a warning sign in this family. He had made sure to curb that nasty habit out of his children. But Red definitely wasn't feeling like delving into it at the moment.

Just as he hurried out of the door, Kitty came in with a grin on her face and a whole other tray of cookies in her hands. "Tina! Grab those cups and teapot of warm cocoa downstairs with me, will you?"

Dread warred with horror as Tina hesitated. Awkward was a nice word to use and one that Tina thought completely undermined how bad things actually were between Hyde and her at the moment.

"Well, chop-chop, silly goose! It's going to get cold!" Kitty laughed, her whole body swaying to the sounds of Bing Crosby singing from the living room TV. If she could, Tina was sure that she would have _Holiday Inn_ blasting from every room in the house.

"Yeah, sis," Laurie said snidely, her smile cold as she let the tray filled with glasses and cocoa drop into Tina's arms. Her older sister had a way of knowing when her own sex was feeling vulnerable. It made it easier to attack.

And as Tina Forman hesitantly made her way towards the basement door, Laurie could tell that she was the weakest that she had been since Laurie had gone after Todd. Her lips curled down in distaste at the memory and she went back to icing cookies.

"Oh, what are you guys doing watching cartoons? _Holiday Inn_ is on." Tina made her way carefully down the steps, trying to make sure that she didn't trip down the rest of the stairs in her platforms. By the time that she got to the last step, her mom had switched over the TV and set the cookies on the table. "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry, Tina! You're just running so slow these last couple days."

The brunette gritted her teeth against a retort, choosing instead to inch her way around Steven (without actually looking directly at him) and set the tray delicately down on the table. Giggling, she went into the backroom to get some more Christmas decorations.

"Tina, if I may say, your legs are especially nice today." Fez walked closer, a brow going up as he gave the brunette a swarthy smile. "May I touch them?"

Tina raised a brow, crossing her arms slowly over her chest.

"IF FEZ GETS TO TOUCH THEM, I DO TOO!" Kelso screamed, throwing up his hand as if he were volunteering an accent. "Are we talking under the skirt and panties or just skirt? The hip's a valid part of the leg as well, people."

"MICHAEL!" Jackie snarled, slapping him just as Tina's twin brother did the same, sending his head flying to the side.

"That's my _sister_ , you sleazebags!"

Fez nodded, turning back to Tina. "So is that a yes or…"

"You can touch her," Hyde said and Tina gasped, her face going red. Slowly, Hyde's eyes moved up to stare icily at Fez, a cold smile thinning his lips. "If you want to end up without any hands."

"Woah!" Fez exclaimed, laughing nervously as his eyes flicked around. "I was just giving her some options. The lady is beautiful. I cannot help myself."

Giving him an indulgent smile, Tina patted his arm. She wasn't sure where exactly he came from but talking to ladies so directly seemed to be a theme with him. Maybe it was a tradition or custom or something.

"Maybe at the Christmas party, I'll let you rub my feet," Tina said to Fez's delight.

"You are too kind to me," he gushed and Tina went to work setting out the cups and pouring cocoa into them.

"Yeah. You are," Hyde said darkly, his eyes clearly stating how Fez would not be touching any parts of Tina in the near or distant future.

The foreigner shrunk from his gaze, going to stand beside Eric with the same look of a whipped puppy. Wiping off her hands, Tina finished up with the drinks and watched as they scooped up before starting to head toward the stairs. Blue eyes caught hers, stalling her for a moment as her heart gave an irrational skip.

"Hyde," she forced out curtly, nodding.

A sarcastic smile tipped the curly-haired boy's lips as he stared up at her. "Bunny."

Her lips thinned her eyes flashing at the word. How could he get under her skin so easily like this? It was ridiculous.

"You're not wearing your glasses," she stated and his lips tipped up even more as he recognized the annoyed lilt in her words.

"You're becoming more and more observant by the day, doll." Her eyes narrowed even more at the nickname, anger lighting through her.

Slowly, she walked forward, leaning over until she could place a cool hand on his shoulder. Their eyes met and she saw his darken and flick down to her lips. She knew what she was doing. She knew that it was unfair and she also knew that she shouldn't like getting such a rise from him. But he always just made her so _angry_. It made her want to mess him up, get him angry.

"You look better with them on," she whispered curtly before pulling away and making her way quickly up the stairs.

Hyde didn't say anything, his hands tight and his eyes on where she had been. So close. He could have leaned up and her skin would have been right against his lips. He could feel her. He could smell her. Dammit. He wanted her.

"Dude, she's got you whipped~," Kelso finally whispered, his eyes peeking over the rim of his cup as he stared at his friend.

"That only works if I'm dating her, you moron," Hyde snapped, slamming his fist into the floppy-haired boy's arm so hard that Jackie could feel the force of it on the other side of him.

"Don't fantasies count for anything these days?" Eric cried to the heavens, his eyes beseeching. It was lucky that Donna was right beside him to shove him to the ground. Hyde would have done worse.

For a moment, Hyde stewed in silence, his eyes on the TV but not really seeing any of it. Finally, he turned to face the rest of the gang. "If you had like six dollars and some change, what would you women want? For a present."

* * *

Tina stared down at the pair of leather boots sitting on her purple comforter, the tips of her toes absentmindedly skimming over her white, shag carpet. Tina's room looked a lot like her brothers with a dresser and a comfy chair that was covered over with clothes and her school stuff. A desk sat next to her bed spilling over with useless, unread books and notebooks. It was an average 1970's teen room complete with posters and photographs plastered on the walls like an extra winter coat.

"I spent most of my money just on him," Tina whispered to herself, her fingers working over the thick ring of fabric around the top. The brunette groaned, pressing the shoes to her face as she wallowed.

"Tina, I need your he-"

"What the hell, Eric?!" Tina shrieked, throwing a pillow at her twin brother's head as he walked into her room.

"WHAT?!" Eric exclaimed, the pillow slamming into his face as he stumbled back.

"What if I had been changing, you freak? Or - I don't know - making out with a boy?" Her cheeks blazed as Eric gave a derisive snort.

"Yeah. Okay."

"It could happen," Tina hissed venomously, her eyes narrowing as Eric took a seat at her desk, his lanky limbs spilling everywhere as he propped his feet on her bed and leaned back.

"Not while you have that weird thing with Hyde going on. It's like me saying that Commandeer Spock and Princess Leia are going to get together and make beautiful half-Vulcan children." For a minute his eyes went wistful and Tina was ashamed to admit that she saw sadness in her twin brother's eyes. Finally, he sighed, shaking his head and whispering, "But that shall never be."

"You're disgusting and completely wrong. Hyde and I are two very different people with-"

"Who are the boots for?" Tina blinked, panic cutting her off as she shoved them off of her bed and to the floor.

"No one. Me. Dad… _Shit_ ," she cursed softly, her face going crimson. "You can't tell Hyde that I got them for him. And if he asks I found them at some thrift shop."

"Odd," Eric mused, glancing at the ceiling as he thought with a finger to his chin. "My sister got Hyde a pair of really expensive boots and didn't want me to know about it. It almost seems that she has secret feelings for-"

"Stop it," Tina hissed, punching her brother in the arm so hard that he squeaked. "Promise me you won't tell him!"

"Fine!" Eric hissed, glaring at her. "But in return, you have to set up some beer coolers downstairs. And make it look pretty."

Tina's eyes narrowed. "You got mom to agree to a Christmas party?"

"Actually dad. If we get a tree then we can keep whatever's leftover." Tina grimaced.

"To the forest?"

"TO THE FOREST!" Eric declared, raising his hand in a salute to the sky as he made his way out of her room. He paused as he reached the door. "And your secrets safe with me… But now that I will be holding this over your head for the rest of your natural life."

"GET OUT!" Tina shrieked, throwing another pillow at Eric's face.

* * *

"NOW WE GOT FORTY BUCKS FOR BEER!" Kelso crowed loudly as they unloaded a massive, lush, green tree from the top of the Vista Cruiser. Tina took a small bite of the cookie in her hands, unimpressed.

"Don't say it too loudly, Kelso. You might wake the next town over," Tina said as she came forward, watching the brunette boy choke on his own laughter and then fall on his ass. You could barely even see him under all the branches of the pine.

"Oh Eric," her mother gushed as Laurie and her rushed out. "I think this is the most beautiful tree we have ever had."

"Thanks, cookie girl." Tina blinked up at Hyde as he took a sugar cookie from the pile of them on the tray in her hands, trying to slow her heart at Hyde's irrationally cute smirk.

"You're welcome, lumberjack boy," Tina said back, turning to face him. "Nice sunglasses."

He gave her a dry smirk in return. "Listen, bunny. I wanna get this girl a real nice present. She's around Donna's age. Any suggestions?"

Tina's blood ran cold, the plate nearly slipping from her fingers as she stared up at him. Was he serious? Tina had watched him talk to both Donna and Jackie but he had never thought - She forced her gaze away from his, setting the plate down on top of the Vista Cruiser.

"How much money do you have?" Even to her own ears, the words sounded forced with an underlying venom. Jealousy was running hot and potent through her veins.

"Six bucks," Hyde said carefully. Animals can always sense when they're in danger and at the moment, Hyde's senses were on high alert. Tina's eyes flashed a cold blue as they turned back to stare up at him. "Just tell me something that girls like you would like."

Something in Tina's mind snapped as she gnashed her teeth, her nails piercing into the delicate skin of her palms. The first time that Hyde had witnessed this expression on Tina's face, they had been in their freshman year of high school.

_Middle school had been a testing ground for Steven Hyde. He had well grown out of the meek silence that other kids kept when they were being pushed around. Hyde wasn't frail and he sure as hell wasn't rolling over for any one of the kids that got houses for their birthdays._

" _How's your mom doing, Steven?" a jock jeered as Hyde passed and the curly-haired boy gritted his teeth, a tick going off in his neck as he turned slowly to face the table._

_When Steven had entered high school and come face to face with his mother at lunch, her hair bound up in a net and her teeth gnawing reflexively at a poor scrap of gum, he knew this would be his life. Having a lunch lady named Gross Edna for a mother was bound to earn him the first spot of Point Place rat. He was lower than the geeks and an easy target._

_Hyde smirked, placing his tray on top of theirs so that food splattered everywhere. He was an easy target today. Tomorrow he suspected that their view would drastically change._

" _My mom's doing great, jockstrap. Last I heard, yours was the biggest slut this side of Wisconsin though. Even banged some of your buddy's here." Hyde's hand came slamming into the kid to his right's shoulder who looked like he had just been caught stealing his daddy's car._

_Hyde's smile only grew as the jock gave a roar, sending food spraying everywhere as he flipped the table and stood, coming nose to nose with the curly-haired boy._

" _Wanna say that again, trailer trash?" the jock snarled, shoving Hyde who stuffed down all the anger with a smile._

" _Yeah," Hyde said, coming nose to nose with the jock again. "Your mom's a slut and from what I hear around the football field, so are you."_

" _YOU-!"_

" _What the fuck do you think you're doing?!" A shrill voice screamed out and all of a sudden Hyde was stumbling back as a little, auburn-haired girl shoved the jock away from him._

" _Um-" The jock floundered, looking utterly bewildered. So did the rest of his table who had decided to sit back and watch the show._

" _Uh, Tina-?" Hyde tried to get her attention, his eyes flicking from her to the guy. He could deck her in one second and the girl would be out. Then Hyde would have to kill him because Eric would be all weird about his twin getting frogged in a fight that Hyde had started._

" _You, shut up," she snarled, turning swiftly to jab a finger in Hyde's face. And that was when he had first seen Tina with that kind of expression on her face. They had learned about Medusa in one of his classes and Hyde suddenly realized that she was standing right in front of him. His limbs froze at the cold, arctic gaze as she whirled back to the jock. "What the hell do you think you're doing, Bobby Whitman?"_

" _Forman-" The jock started, looking more like a shriveled, scared rabbit than anything else._

" _Don't you 'Forman' me, you prick. This is my best friend." Hyde hadn't known that Eric's sister and him were best friends. "From birth. What the hell do you think you're doing getting in a fight with him in the middle of the gym?"_

" _He-he-" Bobby's eyes flicked to Hyde as if asking for help. Few guys actually knew how to deal with a girl in such fury, demanding such odd questions. The jock lowered his voice. "He called my mom a skank."_

" _You mosquito brain," Tina hissed venomously. "Last week you told our entire history class that you caught her in bed with your pool boy. And your boy band here isn't exactly innocent either."_

" _Guys?" Bobby whispered, his eyes imploring like a sad puppy dog as he looked to his friends who all diverted their gaze. Hyde chuckled, earning him a slap from Tina._

" _Nice going, Forman," one of the guys hissed and the auburn-haired girl rolled her eyes, giving him the finger._

" _It's a new type of low when you have to go to middle-aged women to get your rocks off," Tina said snidely, giving the whole table the finger before her fingers were lacing through Hyde's and she was tugging him towards the lunch line. Before they could reach it, the girl suddenly changed her mind, turning back to give the group of boys a cold glance. "And for the record, Hyde could have totally kicked your ass. You should be thanking me. You dumbasses."_

_Hyde was bewildered. And more than that - something in his chest was rapping against his ribcage. He felt like he was having a seizure. The curly-haired boy blinked. "You didn't have to-"_

" _Shut up," Tina snapped, stepping forward to pick up a tray from his ma and avoiding her searching stare._

Never in Hyde's entire life had he had to endure this look from Tina Forman. And at that moment, he realized that he never ever wanted to again. She was like a cobra, slowly curling in to try and calm him before she snapped off and killed him.

"You know what, Steven?" Her voice was way too calm and she never called him Steven. "I think that six bucks is too much. Why don't you just give her your jacket and be done with it?"

Hyde stared at her for a moment. Tina merely gave him a thin smile.

"My jacket?" Hyde said dumbly and then his breath caught as Tina leaned into him, her fingers trailing along the collar of Hyde's flannel jacket and along his chest.

"It's a nice jacket," the brunette whispered, bringing another hand up to run along his neck.

"That's not my jacket," Hyde said softly and Tina smiled, shivers running up her spine as she felt one of his hands curl around her hip.

"Just give the girl the jacket, Hyde." Tina leaned into him, tipping up to whisper softly in his ear. "If you're lucky she'll be loose enough to give you some of her clothes too."

With that, she pushed away, storming back into her house. She had meant it to be a burn on the girl that Hyde was going after - Donna or Jackie, the brunette didn't really care.

Instead, she got the exact opposite reaction.

* * *

_I'm a sucker for reviews and that's exactly what dragged me into publishing this next chapter. More reviews please?_


	7. Lousy With Hooch

Tina Forman was drunk. Sitting on her brothers ratty, taped-up sofa, she was so drunk that she was actually giggling as a boy named Kevin made farting noises with his armpit. She was so drunk that when Fez came over with all of Jackie's cheerleader chicks, she joined in the group, giving him a sloppy kiss on the cheek.

"Tina's pretty wasted," Donna whispered to Eric, gnawing her lip as she took a light gulp of her beer. Eric nodded, sending his twin sister a considering glance.

"Yeah…" Continuing to nod, he leaned closer and closer to the redhead, placing a hand on her hip. "Wanna check out the backroom with me? Got some pretty cool Easter decorations. Bunnies and… More bunnies."

It was a lame opening to a make out session. Donna realized that. Somewhere in the back of Eric's mind, he kind of realized it too. But when Donna gave him a sly smile and pushed him towards the backroom, that inkling of self awareness vanished. Eric Forman was a cool guy and he was going to do what cool guys did: make the moves on his next door neighbor.

As her twin brother was playing tongue hockey with Donna, Tina was still crowded around Fez.

"You know what, Fez?!" she slurred out, her cheeks rosy and her hands slapping down on the foreigners cheeks with such force that the cheerleaders all around him cheered and he winced. "A loooooottttt of people think you're weird."

"What?" Fez whispered, his eyes going wide and his smile slipping as the ladies around him giggled.

"Let me finish!" Tina gave him a wolfish smile, leaning forward until they were mere inches apart. "But I think that you're just unique. And I'll tell everyone in this rat shack just that! I will. Just watch me. I will!"

With that she got up on the table, raising her cheap glass filled with red punch and grinning around as the whole room cheered. "FEZ ISN'T WEIRD! NOW WHO'S GONNA KISS ME?!"

If we rewound an hour or so before, we would find a very docile gathering. Tina was sitting exactly where we had found her before and Hyde was leaning against the washer with a disgruntled look on his face and eyes that flicked from the door to Tina. She had done a relatively good job fixing up the place with beer coolers by the doors overflowing with ice and a series of food trays lining the washer set and cooler. But you couldn't really do much with a room that Kitty refused to enter on more than one occasion.

And sitting on the table that Tina would be standing on an hour or two later, was a bowl of the most rancid smelling punch the Kitty had ever made. Tina had smelled enough vodka to know that the bowl was spiked. She had also been awkward and annoyed enough to ignore that and do what any sane teen would do under pressure:

She drank the koolaid.

So an hour or two later she was absolutely sloshed and on the table holding up a her third glass of spiked punch.

"Hell yeah!" Armpit Fart Kevin screamed, jumping off of the couch only to be shoved back down as Hyde snarled at anyone in the room who dared to show even a remote interest in Tina's offer.

"Okay, princess. Time to come down from the fairy castle," Hyde said as he dragged the girl from the table, ignoring the sound of breaking glass as Tina dropped her cup in favor of wrapping her arms around Hyde's neck.

"It's Hyde!" she cheered, staring up at the curly haired boy with a grin as he opened the door to the basement and made his way up the stairs. Leaning up, she let a hand ghost across his jaw, her lips whispering along his ear. "I was hoping it would be you."

"Dammit, Tina." The brunette squeaked a bit as Hyde set her down roughly, stumbling slightly into the parked Vista Cruiser. Some of her sobriety came back to her at the cold glare that the curly haired boy was giving her as he ran an angry hand through his hair. "Why the hell do you keep doing this stuff?"

"What stuff?"

Hyde jabbed a finger at the tiny girl, his eyes narrowing dangerously and Tina suddenly realized that he was a lot taller than he had been when they were children. She had to crane her head to look up at him. And he was really close, his chest skimming hers.

"You know what you're doing, Tina," Hyde snapped. "You're messing with my head and then you're going all crazy and slobberin' over the foreign kid. You're acting like a complete-"

He stopped himself, glancing away as he bit his lip. Tina's eyes narrowed, almost all of her drunken happiness washing away as anger took its place.

"Acting like a complete _what_ , Steven?" Hyde's blue eyes met her's for a moment and in her mind, Tina dared him to complete his thought. Apparently, he saw the dare written all over her face.

"A complete _bitch_ , princess," he finished, his brows racing as he tipped his head to the side and she gasped.

"You - you -" She was so sloshed that she couldn't think of anything. Her face heated as he stared down at her, waiting.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up! I'm trying to think of something bad enough!" she snarled and then finally settled for going down the path that would lead to the biggest outcome. Desperately, she shoved at Hyde's chest, only getting a slight sway and then he was back up in her space. " _You're_ a bitch! You're the _biggest_ bitch on the whole block, Steven Hyde! And you wanna know why?!"

"Why?" He snarled back, leaning down so that they were inches apart.

"I'LL TELL YOU WHY!" And then suddenly things were coming out that should never, ever have left the safety of her own mind and she was pushing against him and staring up at him like she wanted to rip him apart. "You're a bitch because you kept shoving - Why did you have to ask me to pick out a present for Donna? Or Jackie? Whichever of them you've decided to go after! You know - you knew - you should have known -"

She bit down on her lip, suddenly feeling like crying and hitting him even more. She looked away, ignoring the hand that Hyde had slipped along her waist to the small of her back, his eyes intent. Finally, she lowered her head, her eyes blurry with tears.

"You know that I like you," she whispered, the words breaking. And then she was crying, her hands curling in the front of his vest. She was so embarrassed. And she was tipsy and she just wanted to go curl up in her bed and sleep this away. Maybe if she just walked away now then everything would be fine.

Calloused fingers tipped her chin up and she was staring into the bluest eyes that she had ever seen, even through a layer of shades. And then his hand was tangling in her hair, his other one dragging her against him as his lips crashed into hers.

Everything inside of her melted, an aching starting between her legs as her fingers curled more tightly into his vest. One thing that she had never known about Steven Hyde: He could kiss. His lips pressed to hers and then his teeth nipped into her lower lip, one of his hands going to lower to grasp her butt and bring her closer to him as she opened her mouth in a gasp. And then his tongue was tangling with hers.

He took her slowly and completely and by the time he pulled away her legs were shaking and she couldn't speak. Blinking mutely, Tina stared up at him, her lips stinging and her whole body shivering with tingles. And Hyde smirked like he had just seen something that he particularly liked, his eyes drifting to her lips once more. Was he going to kiss her again? Instinctively, Tina went up on the tips of her toes. She wanted him to kiss her again.

"TINA RENEE FORMAN!" All of the color drained from Tina's face at the booming voice, her whole body seizing up as Hyde instantly let go of her, his eyes going wide.

Slowly, she turned, her heart racing as she came face to face with Red Forman, blood vessels popping out along his temples as his face went purple. She shivered. Tina had never seen him like this.

"Daddy-" She forced out, taking a tentative step toward the enraged man. Her stomach flipped, bile burning the back of her throat. Behind him, Laurie was laughing silently, her mother looking like she was about to have a panic attack. "Daddy, I can explain."

And then she threw up all over Red's work shoes and khaki pants.


	8. Blackmail at it's Hyd-est

"Is that what you've been doing with those idiots all this time?!" Tina felt like someone was slamming a frying pan into her skull. Groggily, she blinked up at her father and her mother. She had only seen them do this gathering with Eric. Laurie had certainly never had to endure more than a stern talking to from their mother and Tina had never been caught doing anything that warranted more that mediocre consequences.

But now she was sitting here on a creaky chair in the middle of the kitchen with Laurie grinning at her like she had just won the jackpot and Eric and her grandma sitting at the table behind her. Apparently having a party with beer was just below getting drunk, kissing a boy in the driveway and then barfing all over Red's feet. Tina winced.

"Getting all - all _crazy_ with that curly haired delinquent?" Red demanded.

Kitty stepped forward. "Now... Now, honey. I know you're seventeen. And - and you'll do what you want-"

"No you won't!" Red roared, making Tina flinch back in her seat as his voice pierced her mind. If she threw up again, would she feel better?

"Red!" Kitty exclaimed. "She's going to date who she wants to date and you're going to have to-"

"I am not!" His eyes turned to Tina, piercing in their intensity. "You won't date that boy, Tina. And that's the end of it."

For the first time in a very long time, Tina Forman had nothing to say. Dating wasn't exactly what had happened out in that driveway the night before. Her mind was blank with jumbled thoughts and morning hangover. And Hyde wasn't here. She rubbed her eyes. _And Hyde wasn't here._

"Okay, Tina," Kitty sighed, sending Red a long look. "All we're saying is that you need to respect yourself and also that boy. Think things over."

"Think things over by not dating him," Red agreed, giving a shark nod.

"You've already gone on the pill but that is no excuse to…" Kitty waved her hands around awkwardly. "To give your flower away."

"Kitty!" Red groaned, his face going crimson. He coughed. "The best kind of birth control is never going near that boy or any boy at all. Remember that."

"Well, now you're just being ridiculous," his wife said, ending the sharp comment in a hysterical laugh.

"I don't think," Laurie said, playing coyly with her hands. "That Tina fully understands how much such a reckless act of - of lust can affect a young girl."

For a moment, Tina felt such a rush of anger and resentment that she was tempted to jump up and pull her sister's hair out. But that would require getting up. And getting up would definitely require some form of work from her brain. And since sitting here, taking the verbal beating was hard enough for her to endure already, she assumed that staying seated would be best.

"Can it, Laurie," her mother snapped and the smile on the blondes lips dropped instantly.

"You know in my day, girls like her would be sent off to a special school," grandma informed the room helpfully, light a cigarette and nodding thoughtfully. "Then they would come back nine months later looking so much skinnier."

Four sets of eyes turned to her as she flicked the ashes onto the kitchen table. Adjusting her Sunday hat, she smiled thinly at the Tina.

"We called them sluts."

"Okay!" Kitty screamed, clapping her hands as she went over to a bowl of tupperware and tossed it at the old woman, gesturing for the door.

"Time for grandma to leave," she proclaimed in a deceptively cheery voice as she shoved the old lady out the door and Red followed with a sigh.

"But I-" The sliding door slammed shut and an audible click rang through Tina's mind as she pressed the heel of her hand into her eyes. She wanted to gouge them out. Maybe if she did that then the pressure inside her skull would stop and she wouldn't feel like the sun was trying to kill her.

"Now you -" Kitty stared down at her tired, worn daughter, smoothing a hand down her skirt and sighed. Tina had always been the good one. And Hyde - well, Hyde was better than Kelso who was nice but stupid. And then Fez - Most of the time, Kitty had a hard to understanding what he was even saying. Catching her daughter's eyes, she leaned forward to pat her cheek. "Just be careful."

Tiredly, Tina nodded, her eyes beating sorely in her skull and a bubbling starting deep in the pit of her stomach. Giving her a final smile, Kitty patted her cheek rather sharply and jerked her head towards the kitchen door which Tina took at a sprint.

* * *

A week later, Tina still felt the same mind-numbing sensation that she had when Kitty and Red had sat her down and gave her the "talking to." She also felt the kind of confusion that can only come from actually liking someone. Although, most people didn't like to admit it there was a definite difference between dating people because you thought that you liked them and dating - Well, dating someone like Steven Hyde.

Because the only kind of "dating" Tina had known so far was the kind that was led by a kind of morbid fascination. What would it be like to date the jock? Or the cool guy? Maybe one would kiss better than the other. And to Tina, they all seemed like nice enough guys. Until she realized that one of them liked feet a little more than was natural. The other one didn't take showers after his football games because he thought it was "therapeutic."

So it was with dread that Tina realized that if she dated Hyde she would know from the get-go most of his faults and be okay with them. She would already know that he had an unhealthy obsession with the government and what they were planning to do to the next generation. She knew that he smoked weed and that he drank a little too much. She knew that his favorite color was green and that he didn't like cheaters because he had seen his mom get hurt too many times by them. And that he was the most loyal guy that she had or would ever know.

And she also knew that if anything happened to them - if he messed up or she messed up - that it wouldn't be like in high school. She wouldn't be able to duck around corners and he wouldn't be able to call her a skank to his friends.

And that, above everything else scared the hell out of her.

"Tina!" The brunette flinched farther into her sofa at the commanding voice of her father, his voice traveling through an entire floor to shake her bed. He had been like Godzilla for the last week and like all monsters from the depths of the seas, he would not be ignored. "TINA!"

Groaning, she rolled out of bed, keeping the knit blanket wrapped around her like a shawl that would protect her from any of the hostility that she knew she would face from her father. Never in her life had she avoided her father's eyes but these past few days had been humbling to say the least.

"Downstairs," her mother side as she stumbled down to the living room. Tina felt like crying at that moment as she stared at her mother who was spooling some knitting thread. Sighing, the woman shook her head. "You're going to have to face them all sooner or later, dear."

Slowly, Tina's eyes crept to the basement door. She had been doing an admirable job in avoiding the whole of her twin brother and his friends. Locking in the door and staring at her walls had become somewhat of a ritual - a sad ritual but something that would ultimately keep her ignorant from the reactions of all of her friends.

"Can I choose later?" Tina whispered helplessly, her feet already shuffling closer to the door even before her mother answered.

"TIIINNNNNAAAAA!" The brunette jerked forward, stumbling in her attempt to get down the stairs before her father grew into a ten foot tall giant and toppled the whole house over in the pursuit to find his wayward daughter.

Six sets of eyes turned on the disheveled girl as she tripped on the last step, skidding to a halt just behind Hyde's chair. And then inching to the right as she realized that he was there. Tina hadn't slept a lot in those last days which was blatantly evident in the deep circles that bagged her eyes and the way that her curls were falling out of a messy bun.

"Dude…" Kelso leaned towards Eric, his eyes staying on Tina as bewildered horror marred his face. "What happened to your sister?"

"Oh, Tina," Jackie whispered, staring at the girl with obvious terror.

Tina for the most part looked like she was taking the whole experience like any teenager would: she wilted in, wrapping the shawl around her and becoming uncomfortably aware of the fact that Hyde was staring at her.

"Where have you been? I've been calling you for hours!" Hours was a bit of an overstatement but even so, Tina paled under the criticism, flinching back like a whipped puppy.

Red Forman had never, ever talked to his daughters like this before. He had never glared at them for more than a second and he had definitely never criticized them for being late. Red Forman was the softest man in the world when it came to his little girls. That was why it hurt so much when he was so harsh with Tina.

But faced with the boy that had been kissing his daughter in the driveway and the basement that had gotten her drunk, Red's anger got the better of him and he turned to a snarling, old hound.

In his seat, Hyde's eyes narrowed, his lips thinning as he sat farther back, crossing his arms over his chest. Gulping, Eric watched with baited breath as his father stared down his twin sister. And awkward awareness fell across the other four members caught in the crosshairs.

"Sorry, Daddy," Tina finally forced out, bowing her head and at the sight, Red's shoulders softened.

"It's fine, sweetie," he finally forced out, feeling a bit of guilt creep uneasily through him. "Your brothers going to be going with your mom to the hospital on career day - I'll be having a half day and coming home to fix Eric's screw up."

Tina nodded. "I can help you with the car, if you want, daddy."

For the first time, her dad's lips tipped up and Tina's heart jumped. Although she didn't want to admit it, she was dependant on his approval - not the best trait that she wanted to admit to but she loved her father. And seeing Laurie play him only made her want to impress him even more.

"I'll be waiting for you," he said with a smile and she returned it as he left and Eric followed doggedly behind him.

And then it was just her and all the others. And Hyde. Who was still staring at her like he was trying to calculate something in his mind.

"Well, that sounds like a _blast_ , Tina," Donna finally said, her eyes flicking nervously from Hyde to the brunette. "Do you-"

"I know that Eric told you that I kissed Hyde the other day," Tina cut in bluntly, feeling an uncomfortable heat creep along her neck as the room roared.

"I KNEW IT!" Kelso screamed, pumping a fist into the air.

"I thought it would be me," Fez whispered, staring at the floor.

"Ew," Jackie whispered, her hand going to tighten in Kelso's shirt like she was keeping herself anchored by the thought. "Tina. He's poor."

Donna slapped her in the arm as Hyde rolled his eyes. Fez's eyes held hers in a glare as he steamed, crossing his arms.

"Why wasn't it me? Am I not good enough for you? Huh? Am I not white enough with your funny little accent and all your money?" the foreigner demanded and Hyde's jaw tensed as he smiled thinly.

"Or maybe it's because your a moron, moron!" Hyde said slowly, ending the sentence by throwing a pillow at his head.

"I," Fez whimpered, curling in on himself and Tina scrubbed a hand over her face.

"Okay." She closed her eyes briefly as she tried to regain some form of her own common sense. Holding out her hands to the room, she gave them all a tense smile. "Me and Hyde kissed."

"SLUT!" Kelso screamed gleefully. Growling, Hyde lunged across the couch, slamming a hand into his stomach before Tina was able to tug him away and back to his seat.

"Me and Hyde kissed," she started over, ignoring Kelso as Jackie tried to console him. Tina's fingers flexed on Hyde's shoulder, her eyes flicking around the room as she held up a finger. " _But_ that does _not_ mean that we are going out. We are not going out. We're um...Not going - going - dating - It's just not happening, okay?!"

Even to Tina's own ears her words sounded pathetic and weak. She was all jumbled up at the words and her face felt like someone was holding a heater to it. And everyone was looking at her like they didn't believe her. Well, that was too bad for them! No matter how much they wanted it, her dreams of going out with Hyde would never ever come true. A lump formed in her throat as she nodded, glancing to the floor and then forced out a laugh, causing everyone to wince and Hyde to turn in his seat to stare up at her. Her dreams of going out with Hyde that she had never had before his stupid blue eyes had flicked his way and he had kept flirting with her. The ass.

"Tell them how we're not going out, Hyde," Tina snapped, staring adamantly at a crack in the wall as she crossed her arms with an angry huff.

All eyes turned to Hyde. Who looked like he was sooner going to dress up as a fairy princess than say anything confirming Tina's rant. Slowly, he got up, turning to face the brunette as he tucked his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah. See, I'm not really sure I can fulfil your royal decree there, princess," he said dryly, tipping his head to the side as he gave Tina a charming smirk.

Panic beat through her veins as he towered over her. No. Nonono. He could _not_ do this to her.

"You-" she started, her teeth baring as she snarled up at the man in front of her.

"OKAY!" Donna laughed, shoving Michael to his feet and towards the door. "I think we're going to be going now."

"HE'S POOR, TINA!" Jackie shrieked as she was forced out of the basement.

"IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!" Fez screamed, the words cut off as the door slammed shut.

And then there was just Tina and Hyde, Tina glaring up at Hyde and Hyde smiling down at her.

"You cannot be serious," Tina snarled, shoving at his chest. "Stop screwing with me, Steven. Do you even know what you just did? This could have been over! They could have just thought that we were drunk. Now they think that we're - that you and I - Dammit, Steven!"

Controlled anger burned through Hyde's blue eyes, making them swirl like storm clouds forming behind his glasses. "Is it really so awful for you to be going out with me?"

It was like he had slapped her, his words stinging to freeze up her brain as she reeled back. For a minute, Tina felt like all the air in the room had been sucked out, leaving her to breath in nothing. Her eyes stung, her mouth open and closed as she silently tried to draw in air. But all that she was left with was Hyde stepping forward, caging her in.

"We've been together since we were little, Tina." His voice was like burnished steel, slicing at Tina's skin as she shakily took a step back. And then another until she was against the dryer and he was leaning in, his arms moving out to either side of her. Behind his sunglasses, she saw his eyes narrow, a stray curl dropping along his forehead. "But I get it. You don't want to be with the bad kid... It's really a shame that it's not your choice."

Wait. What? Tina reeled back, her eyes going wide as she stared up at him, watching as his lips tipped up in a smile. No one had ever said anything more - Tina didn't even know how to describe what she was hearing.

"I have no _choice_?!" she hissed, her eyes darkening dangerously as she stepped forward, her chest pressing against his as she glared up at Hyde.

"Nope," he confirmed, his smile widening into a grin. "You see, the way I'm looking at it, I got taken advantage of."

"You big cow," Tina snapped. "You're like six feet tall and a lot stronger than me - how in the hell-"

"I was drunk, officer," Hyde said, his eyes widening in a frail kind of way as he tipped his head to the side. "And this girl came up and she - and she just started kissing me and - and groping me and - and I just don't know-"

He sniffled, bowing his head into the side of Tina's face as she fumed. She couldn't think, she was so enraged. Angrily, she shoved at his chest, only causing him to tighten his hold even more, his breath tickling along her neck as he wrapped his arms around her waist, drawing her tighter to his chest.

"You're such a liar," she stormed, her hands curling in the front of his shirt as she glared into his shoulder. She wanted to tear his stupid hair out. Her fingers crept towards the nape of his neck.

"You took advantage of me, my friend." Tina frowned as Hyde leaned back, his brows up as he stared down at the girl but his hands moving to rest lowly on her back. "And the way I see it, now your ass is mine."

He smirked and Tina yelped, jolting into him as his hands tightened, squeezing her butt. "Literally."

"You are such a pig," the brunette snarled, trying to wiggling her way out of the hold but only getting pushed into the dryer in return. "I'm not going out with you, Steven Hyde."

The curly haired man nodded slowly then his head turned abruptly as he caught sight of the stairs. "MRS. FORMAN! MRS. FORMAN YOU'RE DAUGHTER IS BEING A _VERY_ NAUGHTY-"

Tina jerked forward, slamming her hands over Hyde's mouth as she heard her mother run to the basement door. Desperately, she tried to wiggle out of Hyde's hold, only getting a smirk in return as she heard the door open.

"Tina, is everything alright?" Thank god. She wasn't coming down. Tina slumped, pressing her forehead to Hyde's shoulder as she let out a breath.

"Fine, mom!" she called back up.

"Okay, honey. Just call me if you need anything!"

Tina turned a harsh glare to the man keeping her caged against the dryer. "You're the biggest asshole in those whole entire world, Steven Hyde and I'm not dating you."

"I think you are."

"I think I'm not."

"Then I guess I'm just going to have to tell everyone what we did _before_ the driveway kiss."

Tina gasped, staring up at Hyde. "You wouldn't."

"Watch me, sweetheart," he drawled. And Tina knew that if anyone was crazy enough to do it, Steven Hyde would be that person.

For a moment, they stared at each other, words clogged in her throat as she tried to think of a coherent argument or bargaining chip to get out of this. Because dating Hyde would be bad. She was scared to date someone who made her feel like she was melting every time he looked at her. She was scared that she would get hurt.

Slowly, Hyde leaned forward, his forehead pressing to hers as he leaned her more fully against the dryer. "Go out with me, Tina."

Her resolve weakened. "Why are you doing this, Hyde?"

Lips pressed against her cheek and Tina's eyes fluttered shut at the touch, her heart beating unsteadily in her chest as her whole body knotted in an odd way. "Because I want you. I want to go out with you, bunny."

"This is a bad idea," she whispered but her words sounded weak and unsure of themselves as his lips skated to her jaw and her hands moved restlessly to his shoulders. "What if we break up? What happens them?"

Blue eyes met hers. "They'll get over it."

It was so ridiculously stupid and - Just stupid. Tina couldn't help but laugh, her eyes watering as Hyde cracked a smile.

"Fine," she forced out, giving Hyde a shove which he took, stepping back with an astonished grin. Tina jabbed a finger at him, her eyes blazing. "But this is a secret."

"Secret dating." Hyde said with a grin as Tina reached the bottom steps and shot him a glare. "Kinky."

"Shut up," Tina laughed, making her way up the stairs as Hyde flopped back in his chair.

"AND YOU'RE COMING TO CAREER DAY WITH ME AND FEZ!" He called up to her, his boots banging onto the coffee table.

"WHATEVER!" Tina retorted, rolling her eyes as she reached the door. "I HATE YOU!"

"HATE YOU TOO, SWEETHEART!"

* * *

_As always, please leave a **REVIEW** and I hope to see you next chapter._


	9. Ladies and Gentlemen Only

"Why would you choose someone like Hyde?" Jackie whined, her brown eyes big as she stared at Tina across the kitchen table. Morning light filtered through the sliding door, slipping past the thin curtains and lighting the room in a warm way that Tina always liked. Usually, these moments were hers - she sat her in the familiar, softness of her kitchen chairs and listened to the gentle whispers of the house that she had grown up in since she was little. Steam rolled lazily from the cups in front of both of the girls, the smell of the fresh donuts sitting in the middle of the table mixing with the earthier tones coming from the cups.

"We're not going out and I didn't choose Steven Hyde. He's not a box of cereal. Why are you here?" Tina said bluntly, her head pounding dully as she stared at the brunette sitting across from her. Sometimes Jackie seemed to almost creep up on the unaware. She reminded Tina a lot like the alligators that she saw on her mom's nature programs: deadly in all senses of the word but slow-moving right up until the point where you're by the water's edge drinking some water and she jumps out at you to give your neck a hug with her teeth.

"You know Melanie Whitman went out with a poor person." Jackie's eyes snapped as she took a donut and pointed it at Tina with a knowing look. "She ended up pregnant, living in Florida, Tina. She's working as a _lawyer_ , Tina. A _law-yer_."

Tina had no words. There was nothing that could possibly compare to such a viciously spoken statement. What was she supposed to say?

"Lawyer's a pretty good job, Jackie. I don't really hear much about female lawyers," the brunette finally responded blandly and Jackie rolled her eyes, sitting back.

"That point is that she works, Tina. She's like always doing some random case of sorting through like files and stuff. Or like - I don't know what lawyers do but she's doing it!" Jackie was looking at her like those were valid comments against Melanie Whitman.

Silence flooded the space as the blue-eyed girl stared hard at the Ukrainian bombshell in front of her.

"You're a moron." Jackie gasped, reeling back like Tina had just said that her hair wasn't brushed right. "And me and Hyde aren't going out."

"I am trying to help you, Tina Renee Forman," she said venomously, her face getting that snotty, better-than-you look that it got sometimes. Her spine straightened, one perfectly, tweezered brow going up as her eyes darkened in criticism. "The point is that Melanie Whitman has a little baby and her husband - Well, I actually don't really know about him. He was always so poor and you know how that is - Once poor, always poor."

Tina's blue eyes went a stormy blue as she stared at the brunette, her face scrunching up as she tried to calculate something very quickly. Briefly her eyes flicked around to the small kitchen that her mom always complained about and the creaky cabinets that always seemed to slide open just when you were walking past, scraping your legs and banging your shins. Finally, they slid back to Jackie who was still staring at her like she was waiting for agreement. Tina slowly leaned forward, honest curiosity written across her face.

"You _do_ realize that _I'm_ poor too, right?" Jackie's eyes rolled again as she huffed, sitting back in her chair.

"Middle class," she said like it was the most obvious statement in the world. " _With_ the ability to move up. You went out with Freddy Jennis."

"Freddy Jennis was an idiot who liked to sit in the parking lot for an hour so that he could yell obscene comments to the mathletes," Tina replied slowly, like she was talking to a two-year-old.

"It's the ability that matters, Tina," Jackie said solemnly, nodding. "If you can get the quarterback than you can get any rich kid you want. It's called being hot."

She was talking like it was an actual science, her smile radiant as she gave Tina an encouraging nod.

"Wouldn't that make me exactly like Melanie Whitman - except I'm the one who dragged her down to the lowly pits of being a working female lawyer with a kid?"

"You poor thing," Jackie whispered, staring at her with such compassion that Tina actually felt sick. "We're women, Tina. It doesn't work like that for attractive women."

"Right. My bad. Forgot they already made a term for that: gold digger," Tina said, forcing some sugary joy into her words as she laughed along with Jackie, nodding.

"I'm glad you get it! Donna never understands."

"You don't say," Tina mumbled, getting up to clean out her coffee cup. "So, really - why are you here? You could be on your way to Paris with your dad right now on some fancy private jet."

For a moment, Tina's mind wandered as she thought about that kind of freedom. Jackie went to Jamaica last year for her winter break. She just got on a jet with her dad and they were off. Tina couldn't even imagine being able to get in the car and go to New York for a night. Sighing, Tina scrubbed down her cup and then dried it, placing it in the cabinet. And then realized that Jackie hadn't said a word.

Crystal blue eyes flicked up to see the brunette, running a nail along the edge of the table, her eyes distant. Tina had rarely seen her like this. Jackie wore her pocketbook like most people wore clothes. And Kelso rarely let anyone forget the fact that the girl had enough money to pay for all of the gang to go on a vacation to Wonderland. After, of course she used more of her substantial bank account to build it from the ground up. Sighing, Tina leaned a hip against the counters, rubbing a hand over her neck.

"You know my dad only has a half-day today," Tina threw out, watching intently as the brunette looked up, her eyes bright with peaked interest. Jackie had always had a weird kind of admiration for Tina's father.

Before this moment, Tina had never put much thought into that fact.

"My dad's out of town this week," Jackie threw out hopefully and Tina resisted the words that were bubbling up inside her as she began to clean up the girl's plate and cup. It seemed that Jackie said that an awful lot.

"I don't know how long I'll be with Fez and Hyde but I'm sure my dad would be happy to have the extra help in the garage."

That was a lie. Tina Forman knew full well that her father would likely sour to the point of becoming fermented wine when he saw the Ukrainian cheerleader enter his garage. By the time that she got back, she was sure that her father would be able to pickle vegetables with one touch.

"Oh, Tina I would love to!" Jackie gushed, grinning as Tina's eyes caught on a flash of curly hair. "...We won't be doing any manual labor, will we?"

Tina sighed as the sliding door opened, Hyde shuffling in with a lazy glance around, his lips curling down as if on reflex as they caught on the brunette at the table but then tipping back up as they reached Tina. Smirking, he slouched into the kitchen, his fingers sliding discreetly across the bit of exposed skin that her shirt didn't cover at her hips and causing her to release a barely suppressed snarl.

"No manual labor, Jackie," Tina snapped, glaring at the back of Hyde's head as he riffled through the fridge with a smile.

"Wouldn't want you to break a nail there, Cinderella," Hyde called, snagging the orange juice and a glass.

"You don't even know what we're talking about, you pauper," Jackie retorted, crossing her arms as her eyes went lethal. "And I'm way hotter than Cinderella."

Tina whistled, her brows raising as she hopped up on the counter. Someone had been looking in their little princess dictionary lately.

"I see you've been re-reading your baby book of fairy tales," Hyde said solemnly, flicking a glance to the girl before leaning across the counter, incidentally taking up the space right by Tina and pressing warmly to her side. Her lips pressed together as a jolt ran from the spot where his skin met hers through her entire body. "But it doesn't really take a genius to realize that Jackie Burkhart and a little bit of dirt don't really go together."

"You know what doesn't go together?" Jackie's eyes flicked to Tina and then back to Hyde and suddenly a bolt of clarity came to Tina. This was not going to end well for anyone with she continued.

"Okay, girls!" Tina broke in, holding up her hands as all eyes turned to her. "You're both pretty. Put the claws away."

"Thanks, sweetness," Hyde murmured to her with a playful smirk, the back of his hand running across Tina's thigh and sending the girl into a frazzled mess of hormones and fire. He kept it there, his fingers splaying wide along the top of her thigh as he kept his eyes on the brunette sitting at the table. The high counters and low cabinets held just enough coverage where she wouldn't be able to see where his hand was at the moment. But if she moved, they were both going to be in trouble.

If Tina could have burned a hole into the side of Hyde's head at that moment, she would have. Stomach knotted, she watched with thinned lips as the curly-haired boy's smirk grew into a full grin, his eyes flashing wickedly from beneath his sunglasses. Slowly, his fingers curled around her thigh causing a squeak to brake from Tina as her thighs went slamming shut. And subsequently trapping Hyde's fingers. Which seemed to delight him immensely.

"Tina, I'm leaving!" Panic pumped through Tina's veins as the sound of the chair scraping along the kitchen floor reached her ears. Jackie was getting up and -

Tina's nails dug into Hyde's ear, his body jerking to the right as the brunette gave Jackie a sweet smile. "Bye!"

With one last cursory glance of distaste and curiosity at the pair, the cheerleader slid out the front door. Although Jackie would never lie to herself and say that she wasn't interested in the two, she knew that their book was already written. And unlike all the romantic stories that she had read over the years, she knew that their story would not end in happily ever after. The brunette shook her head, sighing. When would people learn that what she said was always right?

"You know," Hyde mused, his eyes on the sliding door where Tina was staring like she was waiting for her father to come storming around the corner anytime. He grinned. This situation felt strangely familiar to how he usually ended up with girls. Except this girl was Tina Forman and she had pulled him nearly on top of her lap in order to cover. "I think she might know."

Tina hissed, her eyes snapping to stare down at the boy currently sliding a hand up the side of her thigh, his smirk wolfish. Snarling, she abruptly released his ear to shove him away from her. "You're an ass, Hyde."

"The compliments so early in the morning," Hyde breathed, faking sincere gratitude with a hand to his heart. Slowly, his hands slid up the sides of her thighs, finally curling into her belt loops to slide her farther down the counter. Honey-colored curls fell over his forehead in an entirely too charming as he stared up at her, his fingers working soothingly at her thighs until she relaxed enough so that he could slide between her legs.

He was too charming for his own good, Tina thought grumpily as she glared down at him.

"We agreed that we would keep us - this - whatever we're doing a secret-" the brunette frowned, resisting the urge to shiver as Hyde's fingers tightened along her hips drawing her body flush against his.

"No. No. No," he murmured, his eyes flashing as he leaned up until they were a breath apart. Tina's head went light, her eyes drifting down to his lips as her hands crept up to play along his collar. "You gave the order and I didn't say anything."

Her brows furrowed, the words circling around her head for a moment before they sunk in. Why was she still looking at his lips? Lips weren't supposed to be that interesting. Tina Forman had never stared at lips this long. She gulped, her fingers curling into the soft material of his collar. "You said… Um-"

"I didn't say yes or no," he whispered and her eyes fluttered shut as his nose nuzzled against hers, one of his hands going to rest warmly in the small of her back. Her insides tightened, heat sizzling along her skin. "So this whole secret thing is all on you, doll."

"You didn't say…" Why was her head all fuzzy? Warm, soft hair tangled around her fingers as she swayed forward. She wanted him to kiss her. Blinking, she stared into the blue of his eyes through his sunglasses. He had kissed her the other night. Why wasn't he kissing her now? "You're going to tell everyone?"

His smirk grew, his eyes sparkling mischievously. "Nah. But I'm definitely not going to help you. Going out with one of the hottest girls in school isn't going to exactly be a scratch on my record."

Something about what he just said made Tina's brain go into high alert. There was something wrong about them. But before she could speak up or collect herself his lips were pressing against hers, gentle as he pressed his lips slowly to hers. But Tina wanted more. Pressing forward, she wrapped her legs more tightly around his waist, ignoring the deep chuckle that bubbled from his throat to her lips as he slid his hands down to grasp her hips and drag her closer. Tina wanted him to kiss her like he had the night at the Christmas party but by the way that he was giving her small little pecks, sucking her bottom lip and then pulling away, he wasn't going to give her that.

Growling, she broke the kiss, leaning back just enough so that she could glare into his eyes. "You're doing this on purpose."

His lips curled into a smirk as a hand rubbed soothingly over his back. "I'm kissing you like a good boy. We've only been seeing each other for a few days and I want to make sure that you think I'm a gentleman. You know what that means, bunny?"

Fire sizzled along her spine as he leaned forward, his breath blowing along her ear. "No tongue."

"You're an ass," Tina hissed, blushing. She was so angry that he had caught her. And also that she had wanted him to kiss her like that. She frowned. She could turn this around. She should be able to turn this around. Smiling softly, she leaned forward as Hyde's eyes went wary. Sliding a hand along his neck and down his back, she leaned forward until her lips were skimming his ears. "That's too bad. And here I was thinking that we could maybe get a little more familiar."

She arched into him, pressing her breasts into his chest as she hears him exhale slowly, his fingers flexing on her butt. Tina smirked, sliding quickly away from him and off the counter. No one would ever been able to say that Tina was going to let Steven Hyde get one over here. Even if it did leave her aching to walk away from him like this. Trailing a hand along his back, she leaned up for one last jab.

"But you're right. You're a gentleman and I'm a lady." And with that she flounced over to sit heavily in one of the kitchen chairs just as the sliding door opened to reveal Fez.

"Hello, my lovely American friends!" the foreigner chirped and then he zeroed in on the table. "Oh! Donuts!"

"Dammit," Hyde muttered, leaning heavily on the counter as he stared down at it with a mixture of anger and pain.

"Hyde, if I may say so, you look like-"

"Okay! Time to go!" Tina smirked as the curly-haired boy stormed to the sliding door opening it with a bang and motioning for them to leave. Today was already turning into one of the best days ever, the brunette thought happily as Fez tried to stuff the remaining donuts into his bag.

"Oh, Steven," Tina sang, glancing over her shoulder as the two boys followed behind her, one with a mouthful of food and the other glum with his hands jammed into his pockets. Hostile, blue eyes met hers. "Remind me when I get home - I have a present for you."

"I'm sure it's not the one that I want," she could hear Hyde mutter and she grinned, making her way down the drive.


	10. Bad Blood

There was something oddly comforting about Steven Hyde's mother. Being in her presence felt a lot like being in a house that was too old, with too many open windows. Like you were sitting in the middle of an empty room listening to the wind caress the walls. The whole entire world seemed to recede like you were closing your eyes and pressing your cheek to the cool wood of the floor. And for once in your life you felt like you could really take a breath and not worry about all the little things this world had to pester you with.

But when you open your eyes you realized that you're all alone and the wood has frozen your skin to the point of pain.

It was hard for Tina to think about living with this kind of person for seventeen years of your life.

"Fez, this is - this is, um my mom." Hyde coughed as Tina leaned against the door frame, her eyes intent on the woman stirring a massive pot of something that smelled utterly putrid. A pink hair net held back straight brunette strands, her lips painted red and her eyes the same blue as Hyde's.

Briefly, she felt Hyde's eyes flick to run over her. He always was like this when Tina got near his mother. It was a reflex that Tina didn't exactly understand.

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Gross Edna," Fez said with a sweet smile and a nod and Tina grimaced, stepping forward to pinch his side. "Ow. What?"

"Nonono, honey," Edna said, flicking her cigarette so that the ash fluttered to sit in the half-empty spaghetti can. "It's _Miss_ Gross Edna. You see, Mister Gross Edna ran off with Miss Perfect Ass."

Tina winced as Hyde gave a fake laugh. "But she can laugh about it now."

"Yes. She can~" Edna smiled, stirring at the pot of slop with a smile before her eyes snapped up and she gave him a scowl. "Shut up."

A sudden lump filled in Tina's throat as she moved to stand beside Hyde, her eyes staying on the floor as her fingers skated over the back of his hands, his thumbs tucked into his belt buckle. Tina had always thought that her eyes were opened to the reality of her friends' lives. Fez lived with an obnoxiously Christian family. Donna's parents were more likely to jump off the side of a cliff than stop their petty squabbles. Kelso's parents over-explained things to the point that Tina knew his attention span had shot right to zero. What Tina wouldn't - and couldn't admit to herself is that she had turned a blind eye on Hyde's family. And he had made it unbelievably easy for her mind to stay clear of all the troubles that he had at home.

Slowly, Tina wormed her fingers through Hyde's even though he kept his eyes adamantly forward.

"You don't have to comfort me, doll," he whispered, his voice tipped with irritation as he turned his head to the side so that only the brunette could hear him.

"Don't get full of yourself," she whispered back, feeling an odd flutter beat through her as his thumb made soft circles on the back of her hand. "I'm holding your hand because _I_ wanted to. My hand was cold."

A scoff was the only reply that she got.

"Oh, I am so excited to be in the foodservice industry," Fez chattered away, completely oblivious to the tension that had infused the air. Slowly, he stepped forward, his eyes going sultry as he gave Edna a smirk. "Do you want me to cut the cheese?"

"Is he kidding?"

"We can never tell," Hyde said with a long glance to the foreigner, his hand tightening on Tina's.

Say what you wanted to about Edna Hyde and her choices in life but no one could dispute the fact that she was smart. In fact, she used to be at the top of her class before grades had paled in comparison to a baby on the way. Her one sin had turned into a crippling affliction that hardened her to the realities of the world. Edna Hyde was still young and because her youth had been cut off when it should have only begun, she had grown into a bitter woman who searched for it in the embrace of any man that would take her.

The problem with being young and foolish is that you think that you deserve love at every corner. When she looked into the eyes of Joe Cretchen, the pharmacist or Ken Bitner, the janitor, she saw people who _wanted_ her. She saw a way to get away from the searching eyes of every parent this side of Wisconsin that saw her son's smart mouth and his delinquent records. She saw what she had seen in high school when she had let Hyde's father kiss her underneath the awning of the ice cream shop.

In the ways of the world, Edna Hyde was still very, _very_ young and beautiful and loose enough to gain the attention of all the men that were too smart to go for women not saddled with resentment and children and too dumb to get the bleach blondes that roamed the malls and nail salons. And she paid for it over and over again with tears and hatred and more trips to the hair salons and more money on booze.

Because in the end all Edna Hyde wanted was to be loved.

So when she saw Tina Forman slide her fingers through her son's and look up at him with those beautiful, blue eyes, she knew exactly what was happening. And she knew that young love was a bitter pill that were ineffective and caused sickness.

"Tina Forman." The words tasted like warm milk in Edna's mouth as she worked around them, her fingers curling stiffly around the spatula that she was using to stir the pot of mush. She had no clue what she had dumped in here but she was pretty sure that it would be just as disgusting if she stirred it or didn't.

Tina tried to swallow around the lump in her throat, feeling Hyde go tense beside her, his shoulders going back and his hand tightening on hers as he turned a hostile stare on his mother. Edna rolled her eyes. All men had become an endless sea of testosterone and posturing to her. Unfortunately that included her own son.

Tensely, Tina gave her a thin smile.

"How's your mother doing?" It was an awkward question and one that Tina resented. The brunette knew all too well that Edna Hyde didn't give a damn about her mother. In fact, Hyde's mother had made it plain that she resented the fact that her son ran away every chance her got to the Forman household.

But Tina Forman had learned at a young age to bite her tongue when she was facing uncertainty. A trait that only came from being treated as the youngest and having a brother and older sister to view from a safe distance.

"Completely fine," Tina forced out, her hand clamping down on Hyde's as she saw his mouth open. "She's been wondering if you would like to come over for dinner sometime, actually."

"I highly doubt that," Edna scoffed and Hyde's anger rose.

"Yeah. She's way too busy with going out to see all my _uncles_ to bother with someone as _superficial and fake as a three dollar bill_ as Mrs. Forman," he gave a thin smile as Edna's color rose. "Right, ma?"

From the way that Hyde said the last bit, Tina knew that it was a quote. A direct quote from Edna Hyde about her mother. Tina's eyes could have frozen hell at that moment as she stared at the woman in front of her. There was nothing that she could say to that. If she said anything, she would be insulting Hyde's mother. A metallic tinge filled her mouth as her teeth sunk into the top layer of her tongue, her nails biting into the back of Hyde's hands.

But if there was one thing that Edna had learned through the years it was that being abashed without being actually sorry was more of an insult than the actual slander. And Edna Hyde was not in the least bit sorry about saying those things about Kitty Forman. She believed every last one of them to be true because she knew the way that all of the people in Point Place looked down their nose at her. And since Kitty was a God-fearing woman, she could only assume that she was right there with the masses. And in her book, the best offense was a not a good defense but to be the first to attack. Full frontal charges were the only thing that she knew how to do correctly.

"Don't give away too many of the family secrets, Steven," Edna said with a fake smile as she went over to the unorganized shelves and got down some hair nets and plastic gloves. "The little foreign kid can cut the cheese but if he slices off a finger, he's out of here. Steven, you can start by slicing the pizza and Miss Tina Forman can organize the shelves."

Steven grunted softly as Edna wiggled in between Tina and him, shoving a pair of gloves into the girl's face before shoving him back a step. Across the room, Tina saw Fez mumbling happily to himself as he put on a hair net and some gloves.

"Oh, nononono," Hyde muttered in irritation, glancing around the dirty kitchen in disgust. "I'm here as an _observer_. Fly on the wall. One of many."

Tina glanced up from the box of baking powder in her hands. She knew that voice. That was the voice that Hyde used when he wanted to piss adults off. And the way that he was staring down at his mother meant that he wanted to crawl so far under her skin that people would think that she had a disease.

"Gee. What a surprise," Edna said sweetly and Tina's mouth thinned as Hyde's eyes narrowed. "Lazy. Just like your fathe-"

" _Stop it._ " It hissed out from Tina's lips before she could stop the words, her fingers crushing the box in her hand so hard that powder rained down on her platforms and skirt. Red crept up her neck as a bitter taste filled her mouth. She wanted to slap Edna for the hurt that she saw flash threw Hyde's eyes. She wanted to slap Edna even more for the way that she saw his shoulders tense and his mouth thin into a restrained smile just before the words left her mouth. Like he was expecting it.

But more than all of that, as Tina glared into the eyes of Edna Hyde, she felt so helpless and ignorant that she wanted to stomp her feet and throw things. Because there was a boundary that she couldn't pass. She couldn't say the things that were swimming around in her skull because Red and Kitty had taught her not to. Even though Hyde was being hurt. Even though she wanted to protect him more than she wanted to breath in that moment.

Tina blinked, turning to stare at the cluttered, messy shelf in front of her. She could feel Hyde staring at her and she didn't want to turn around and meet his eyes because she was afraid. She was afraid that one glance from him would push her over the edge and then she would do something that she would be ashamed of. So instead she put her head down and went to work.

"Put these on," Edna whispered, squeezing her sons shoulder tentatively as she went back to her pot. It was brief moments of clarity like these that made it hard for her to live with herself.

"Miss Gross Edna, may I keep these?" Fez chirped, grinning obliviously across the table at her as he held out his hands with the plastic gloves.

Edna gave him a soft smile. "Of course you can, baby."

Hyde rolled his eyes, shoving his fingers into the too-small gloves and going over to grab the pizza slicer. And just like that all of them shut their mouths and went to work.

Tina did what her mother would do. She took all of the boxes and cans and cleaning supplies off the shelves and scrubbed them down until they were spotless. She organized it by type - cleaning supplies at the top to the very left, canned food a safe distance away and then all other odds and ends following. That only took her an hour at the most. Tina's hands itched, her mind restless. She needed to do more. She needed to do more so that she couldn't think.

By the time that she was done, the whole entire back area looked like it had when the school had first opened. The equipment was sparkling and the empty cans and boxes had all finally found their place in the garbage. It was a load of work. Tina threw off the gloves, wiping a hand over her sweaty neck and looking around in agitation. It was a load of work but she needed more.

"Hey." Big hands circled her bicep as she hurried past Hyde, stopping her. Hyde had been watching her all evening. He had been watching her because he was worried. Worried that he had messed up. He shouldn't have brought her here with him. She was shutting down. Slowly, Hyde brought a hand up to push the hair away from her forehead, meeting her eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Me?" Tina was finding it hard to comprehend. _He_ shouldn't be asking _her_ that. _She_ should be asking _him_ that. "I'm fine."

And then she laughed, loud and long like her mother did when she got went into a state bordering on complete hysteria. It was a bad sign. Tina slammed her hand over her mouth, cutting the sound off midway through. A deep sort of panic pumped through her. She hadn't known that Hyde's mom was like this. She squeezed her eyes shut. She felt so guilty.

"Okay. Yeah. Sit down." Slowly, he led her over to where Fez was sitting like an attentive puppy as he asked Edna questions, his hands circling her waist as he helped her jump up onto the counters. He kept a calming hand on the small of her back as he stood just behind her, on the other side of the counter.

"I was the top girl on the pyramid," Edna was saying with a smile. "Then they fired me for getting knocked up."

Tina stiffened, a new layer of perspiration popping up along her skin as Hyde tensed beside her. It was like feeling the earth rumble beneath your feet before a volcano erupts.

"Oh," Hyde laughed tensely. "Let me finish this one for ya, Edna. Fez, this is the story where I ruin my mother's _fabulous_ water skiing career."

Tina's hand whipped out as Fez started to scribble down what they were saying, shaking her head at his curious glance.

"Yeah. Well, you did." The brunette blinked. It was hard to comprehend such ridiculous accusations spoken so adamantly. "They said that a pregnant girl on water skis would make the audience nervous."

Laughter bubbled it's way up Tina's throat without her knowledge or control, filling the small space until she stopped it with a hand to her mouth.

"Not to mention you were probably hideously fat," Fez threw in before Tina could get a good grip on his arm to shut him up.

Desperately, her other hand reached out to curl through Hyde's as she heard a harsh breath leave him.

"No. No. No. I looked great," Edna insisted. "I kept my weight down by smoking."

"What?" Tina whispered, horror written across the tense lines of her face.

Edna rolled her eyes. "And look at him. He's fine."

"See, that's that maternal instinct kicking in again," Hyde said, his voice harsh and bitter.

"Yeah. You're damn right I'm maternal," Edna hissed, her eyes sharpening. "I raised you alone."

It was like watching a car crash. Tina's mouth thinned, sewing shut on it's own, her hands going clammy as they tightened around Hyde's. Her eyes watered as she forced the words bubbling up inside her back down. _You're a bad mother. Why are you saying these things? Can't you see they hurt?_ Hurtful words that would be useless. Tina knew the difference. She could feel it in the metallic taste that she got every time one of them would form on her tongue.

And somewhere deep inside, she knew what Edna's response would be. Because Edna Hyde wasn't like her parents. She still used the tools that all teenagers learned in high school. She used the vengeful words and the hateful looks. She knew how to tear children like Hyde and Tina and Jackie apart. And because her parents had taught Tina how to lock her tongue against any reproach even for the filthiest human beings, she lowered her eyes and kept her mouth shut. The difference between her parents and Edna could be summed up in the one moment that she had met Hyde when they were little. If she had demanded that Edna hit the little boy with the curly hair, she would have. Without a second thought and without regret.

"Alone? Hardly," Hyde scoffed, his fingers flexing around Tina's hand. "There was 'uncle' Chet and 'uncle' Larry and - Oh, yeah. 'Uncle' Hot Tub Johnny."

"I suppose I should have just become a nun when your father walked out on us," Edna said, her eyes narrowing as she stepped forward, standing right beside Tina as she stared Hyde down.

"Hell, he must have been _crazy_ to leave all this."

"Always a smartass, Steven. Just like your father." It hurt. It hurt to hear it and it hurt to feel the verbal slap hit home and send a flinch to travel through Hyde.

It was a cruel kind of satisfaction that slid through Edna at that moment. It always felt that way when she hurt her son like he hurt her. And it was horrific. It wasn't sightly and it didn't feel so good later on but the immediate satisfaction was what Edna had learned to seek out.

Beside her, Tina felt Hyde take in a shuddering breath. "You know what? One thing he did do right? He _left_."

And with that, he lifted Tina from the counter and walked out of the kitchen like he was leaving hell with his hand in hers.

The thing about immediate satisfaction was that it only lasted for _that_ moment in time. You couldn't suspend it. You couldn't drag it out. It stayed with you for as long as the mission was accomplished and then it all flutters away to leave regret and guilt. Edna had felt it too many times with her son to ever count. And every single time she was left with more hatred. She hated herself. She hated that she was a bad mother and that every single day she had to wake up with the resentment. She hated that when she looked into her sons face she saw herself. He had her eyes and her quick wit. And she hated that every time he smiled, she saw his father.

She loved her son and she hated her son.

They walked for a long time. Tina didn't even know where they were going. She blinked. She couldn't even _see_ where they were going. Horror spiked through her as she felt the familiar dribble of tears trickling down her face and along her jaw, running down her throat. She was crying. Desperately, she tried to mop it up before Hyde saw her. He should be crying. It was selfish of her and she had no right-

"Tina? Shit. Why -" Hyde's concerned face swam in her vision as he stopped, turning to stare down at her as he cupped her face. Deep seated panic bubbled up inside him as she sniffled, her face contorting as she let out a deep sob. "I'm-"

"I'm so sorry," she wailed, hiccuping as he tried to swipe away the tears with the heel of his hands. It wasn't good enough. She was crying so hard that there just seemed to be an endless rain. "I should have known - but I didn't - and then - I'm so sorry."

There were no more words that Tina could think of. And there was nothing that Hyde could say. Because he had never had anyone cry for him. Silently, he pulled her into his chest, pressing his face into her hair as she cried. And neither of them knew if it made anything better.

In the end, it didn't really matter.

"You good now?" Hyde whispered as Tina's sobs receded into sniffles and then silence. Mutely, she nodded.

"I got your shirt wet," she whispered hoarsely, staring at the giant wet spot making his button-up see-through.

"It'll dry." Gently, he wiped his thumbs along the bottom of her eyes, his eyes soft as he stared down at her.

Inside her head, Tina muddled around for words. She wanted to say something. But what could she say? What could make this better? Because anything else but better for Steven Hyde would be a failure. But she couldn't find anything.

So instead she leaned upon the tips of her toes, taking his sunglasses off and tucking them into his shirt. Slowly, Tina wound her arms around his neck, pressing her lips softly to his cheeks and then his eyes as he closed them and the tip of his nose and then finally to his lips. Against her waist, she felt his fingers splay, his breath mingling with hers as she pressed her forehead to his and closed her own eyes.

"I'll always be here," she whispered, forcing all of her emotions and being into those four words and then let out a breath as his nose nuzzled against hers, a slow breath leaving him.

For a moment, they didn't say anything, staying against each other just like that until eventually, Hyde pulled away with a soft kiss to Tina's lips.

"Come on," he finally rasped, unwinding her arms gently from his neck and taking a hold of her hand.

Silently, Tina followed along, finally realizing that they had almost reached her driveway. Tina's eyes felt raw and her nose stung as the cool wind whipped through the high trees that lined her property. She looked like they had been crying, the brunette knew that.

"I'll go and get your present," Tina whispered as she saw her dad's eyes flick up from the tools that he was scrubbing down. Just behind him, Tina could see a mass of brunette curls bobbing around just beneath the car.

Silently, Hyde nodded, slipping his hand from hers and going over to greet her father as Tina slipped into the house. Christmas had long since past but the brunette still had Hyde's present. The way that she saw it was that it was better late than never.

When Tina came back out of the house, Hyde was waiting for her on the porch, his eyes distant.

"Here," she coughed, tossing the neatly wrapped gift into his lap and taking a seat beside him.

"It's not my birthday," he stated even as he tore at the paper and unwrapped it. His eyes went wide as he stared down at the boots, his lips thinning. "I can't take these."

"It's your Christmas present," Tina said softly, giving his leg a playful push with the tips of her shoes. "And I found them at Goodwill."

His eyes snapped to hers, unbelieving.

"Really," Tina insisted and then leaned forward with a smile. "And I fully expect a Christmas present in return."

After a moment, Hyde sighed. He could tell from the look on her face that she was neither going to admit that she had actually bought them full-price or take them back.

"I'm not sure if I like this sweet side of you, doll," he murmured, leaning closer to her until they were only inches apart. "It seems like a trap."

Tina batted her eyes, giving him a sweet smile. "It's only for today."

"Good," he said with a smirk, leaning forward to nip at her nose before standing. "As for your present, you're looking at it."

Tina blinked and then gulped as he leaned forward, his hands curling around her armrests to cage her in as he gave her a wolfish smile. "I'm taking your advice and giving the girl the jacket. Anything you want, you can have it."

Tina smirked. She always had liked Hyde's clothes and they had always looked more than comfortable.

"So you're saying that if I told you to strip down right now, you would?" she asked slowly and his eyes sparkled mischievously.

"If I'm lucky enough, I suppose I might even get the same," he whispered, parroting her own words back at her before pulling back with a wink.

"Where are you going?" Tina's fingers snapped out to curl through his as if by reflex, her brows furrowing.

Briefly, Hyde's eyes flicked towards the garage and then he rubbed a hand over his neck, sighing. "Going back to my ma."

Tina's stomach flipped but she nodded, standing up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. She didn't want to smother him. She wouldn't be one of those girls. And Steven's mom wasn't a bad person. She had raised Hyde. And she had dealt with more hurt and self-hatred than Tina could ever comprehend. A lump formed in Tina's throat.

Giving her a strained smile, Hyde left, his hands shoved deep in his pockets and his shoulders up. Steven Hyde had lived his whole life without the protection of Tina Forman. And just because they had something going on didn't give Tina the right to interfere. Her lips thinned and she shook her head, going over to the garage.

"Thank you, daddy," she whispered, leaning down to press a kiss to his cheek which he batted away with a scowl.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Grab that flashlight for me."

* * *

_Hey, my little cinnamon buns! So I know things are a little crazy right now with this virus but I just wanted to emphasize the point of coming back to the things that we love and just not letting the fear and uncertainty ruin everyday life. We still have so much to be thankful for and I for one, count you guys among those numbers._

_So yeah, I hope that this chapter brightens your day._


	11. May The Force Be With You

"And then they go into this bar and there are all these space creatures. And then someone makes the mistake of picking on Obi-Wan Kenobi. And then he takes out his lightsaber and he goes WOOSH and chops this guy's arm _right off_. 'Cuz it's a _saber_ that's made out of _light_."

Tina rubbed her eyes tiredly. Her twin brother had been going on and on about this new stupid space movie for hours. She had heard about it last night when he had come home. She had heard about it when he was chattering away in their bathroom. And now she had to hear about it at the breakfast table. Eric gave Tina an expectant stare.

"It sounds like you have a giant crush on Obi-Wan Kenobi," she stated bluntly and watched as red crept up his neck.

"Not - not -" He looked down at his cereal, gulping. "He's just really - really cool."

"Well, you know," Kitty jumped in, shaking her head. "It just doesn't sound like a very nice movie. Now… _The Way We Were_ , that's a nice movie."

With that, Kitty got up with a laugh, taking her dirty plate to the sink.

"So, Eric, you going to get yourself some Star Wars pajamas?" Tina glanced up at the snide voice of her sister. Tina didn't entirely know why Laurie was staying here. For all the years that she had been in college, she had chosen to stay there for every holiday and break that was given. Now all of a sudden she was here, sitting at the table like she had when they were younger.

"Maybe…" her twin mumbled, shuffling around the cereal in the bowl.

"Hey, Laurie." Laurie's eyes met her sisters in a cautious way as the brunette gave her a thin smile. " _Why_ are you here?"

Just as Laurie's mouth opened in a retort, their father slammed through the sliding door. "Kitty! I'm going back to work! Full time."

Relief smoothed out her mother's face. It was odd how Tina had overlooked how worried her mother and father had been. How they had been cutting down to cheaper cereals and whispering over bills in the dead of morning. Tina swallowed, a knot loosening in her chest.

"Oh, Red," she breathed. "Oh my god. You're kidding."

"No," Red whispered, stepping forward to stand in front of Kitty with a grin. "I ran into Ron Milbank at the Kmart and he's moved back to reopen the plant."

Tina blinked. The Milbank's had been in town for a bit now. Her brows furrowed as she glanced to her brother who had turned to watch the scene.

"Oh. Oh, this is a godsend," Kitty breathed tears welling up as she pulled Red into a tight hug. "And to think how close we came to losing the house."

Tina and Eric reeled back, meeting each other's bewildered stares.

"Losing the - Mom! You said we were fine!" Eric croaked and Tina guiltily thought back on all the times that Red had given her money over the last few months.

"Oh, Eric honey," Kitty gave a laugh. "I lied."

Hurriedly, Tina got to her feet and went to her parents to give them both a hug.

"I'm so happy for you, daddy," she whispered, giving him a peck on the cheek as he grinned down at her.

"Wait a go, daddy!" And then Tina was crammed in between a Laurie and her father and then Kitty as Red pulled them all into a hug.

"My job and my two little girls!" Tina had rarely seen her father this happy. In fact, this display of emotions terrified her. How close had they been to losing the house? How could she be so oblivious?

"Um. Yeah. I'm here too." Tina wiggled her way out of the hold to find her brother standing a bit to the left like a lost puppy.

"Speaking of you," Red started, grinning as Eric's face curtained with wariness. "I told Milbank to get David to come by and see you."

"David Mibank, dad? I hated that guy." Tina grimaced, stepping forward to punch Eric in the stomach. "What the hell, Tina?"

"Don't talk to your sister like that," Red snapped and the brunette gave her brother a discreet smirk. "And I don't like David's dad but I smile like hell when I see him."

"We'll take care of him, daddy," Tina promised, giving him a nod.

"Oh, I'm sure you will," Eric whispered acidically, sending her a glare that she fully returned. Still held against Red's side, Laurie's eyes narrowed like a cat that had caught sight of a bird. Tina hadn't exactly hidden the fact that she had gone out with David from her family - She had thought that it was such a small period of time that it didn't really matter.

And she had certainly been under the impression that no one would ever need to know about her involvement with him considering the fact that he lived one town over and hadn't _ever_ mentioned reopening the plant.

* * *

"David Milbank? Oh, barf," Donna said after a bit of contemplation and then she turned to Eric with a grin. "Remember when you beat him up?"

Tina was sprawled across the top of the washer and dryer, one leg hanging limply over the edge and a view master in one had. A box of reels lay at her side, some scattered all over the place and spilling onto the floor. Tina's lips thinned at the thought. David had definitely held a slight grudge against Eric for that when they had gone out. In fact, it had made it a little awkward.

"Yeah. I kicked his ass." The amount of pride that her brother got from that was actually embarrassing.

"Wait. Wasn't he the kid with scoliosis and asthma?" You could always count on Jackie to know about the many people that had come and gone from Point Place.

Smirking, Tina put in another reel and looked through the eye holes to see a funny little picture of Cinderella weeping on her godmother's lap.

"And I kicked his ass," her twin said proudly and Tina chucked a reel at his head. "What, Tina?"

"Don't be a dillhole," she snapped, glaring across the room at him as she forced herself to her elbows. "You know that we need to be nice to him because of daddy."

Eric rolled his eyes, his head flopping back against the couch. "I know. I know. But if he does anything to tick me off - It's on."

"I'm sure he won't tell everybody that you wear Disney undies, Eric," she retorted, causing the others to snort.

"That's why you beat him up?" Donna whispered and red crept up the back of his neck.

"It was a very scarring moment," Eric muttered before whirling to face his sister who had gone back to the view master this time with a farms reel. "Besides, shouldn't we be watching out for you? You guys did go out-"

"We didn't go out," Tina groaned as the rest of the basement gasped.

"You went out with a guy with scoliosis and asthma?" Michael gasped, turning away from the cassette player to stare at the brunette.

"You used to go out with quarterbacks, Tina," Jackie whispered, horrified. "What happened to you?"

"What's wrong with me?" Fez demanded, his mouth twisting bitterly as he glared at the girl. "Huh? Is this because I liked to smell your hair sometimes in class when you aren't paying attention? Is that what this is about?"

"No, Fez," Tina said blandly, clicking through to another slide on the view master. "This is not about the weird things that you do when you think I'm not paying attention."

The foreigner gasped, his eyes flicking around the gang. "You knew?"

"Listen," Tina said, putting down the toy to turn her eyes to the rest of the room. "We went on one date and then we never saw each other again. Plus, he's actually not that hard on the eyes now."

Donna snorted as Jackie rolled her eyes.

"You sure spend a lot of time with someone that you aren't dating," Eric snapped and Tina resisted the urge to get up and slap the hell out of him.

"Yeah, well you and Donna sure spent a hell of a lot of time together when you two were apparently not dating."

"Hey!" Donna exclaimed and Tina sent her an apologetic glance. "Don't drag me into this."

"You have to be nice to him as well," Tina pointed out and then pointed a finger around at the rest of the gang. "All of you do."

A series of groan were all she got as the brunette went back to her view master. Something was nagging in the back of mind. Why hadn't David mentioned anything about opening the plant back up? It seemed like a really obvious thing to talk about.

"Eric! Tina! David's here!" The brunette glanced up to see that Jackie and Kelso had left. Which wasn't really that surprising. At this point, she was wondering if she should go see the damn movie with how much they were talking about it all the damn time.

"The scoliosis - asthma freak is here! I cannot wait to see this." Fez exclaimed, laughing hysterically but quickly stopping at the dark look Tina was casting his way.

Footsteps clattered down the wooden steps as David came into view, a nice smile curling his lips. Immediately his eyes fell on Tina as she stayed sprawled out across the washer and dryer and she saw the smile wilt a little bit. She hadn't really thought much about what her dismissal of him might have left him with. Her eyes narrowed as she gave him a restrained smile.

"Hey, guys! I'm back!" he greeted as Eric and Donna got up and her twin brother shook his hand.

"Yeah! Hey!" And then there was silence. Tina smirked as she took in the awed expressions of everyone.

"Back and _so_ grown up," she hummed from her place on the machines and David gave her a curious smile while Eric let loose a nervous laugh which could have only been inherited from their mother.

"You've _really_ grown up." Over his shoulder, Donna eyes met Tina's and the brunette smirked as she mouthed, _told you so_.

There was no way of getting around it. David Milbank was a hunk with a pocketbook. His dad was a big wig and the boy was all but set up for a family.

"And you've... _really_ grown up." Tina's eyes snapped up to watch as David gave Donna an unabashed once over.

Her lips thinned, her eyes snapping to the suddenly very worried expression on her brother's face.

"I've grown up too," Eric squeaked out, blinking rapidly as Fez winced in consideration.

"Yes. But him so much more than you have," Fez pointed out and Eric jumped forward to throw an arm over Donna's shoulder.

"Hey. Hey. So tell us about you," and then before Tina could interrupt, Eric slid in a quick, "We're dating."

"Woah!" Tina exclaimed, jumping off the washer and dryer with a loud laugh as she scooted between Eric and David with a friendly smile. "Why don't we um, take a seat? Yeah? No? Sit down."

Slowly, tensely everyone took a seat and Tina pushed over her brother so that he was squashed up against Donna and she was closest to David. There was no way that she was going to let her idiot brother do anything mess up dad's new job. No one said anything. Tina couldn't think of anything that wouldn't be awkward and Eric was going into overdrive. Like a rabbit sensing the jaws of a predator, Eric felt impending doom. Something important to him was in jeopardy. And he didn't know how to protect it other than to go on the immediate defense.

"So, uh Donna, you still writing short stories?" Tina blinked. This was bad. David's attentions were completely on the redhead.

"Yeah. I still write a little," Donna said with a smile as her brother jumped in.

"Well, No. Not - Wait." Her brother reeled to stare at Donna. "You still write?"

Tina gave a harsh laugh, elbowing her brother. "Of course she still writes. You knew that Donna Pinciotti, your girlfriend still writes, right?"

"Um," Eric fumbled out, staring at Donna like this was the first time he had met her.

"I mean, I would love to read your stuff," David threw out and Tina felt a frantic kind of panic pump through her.

"Yeah?" Donna grinned, leaning forward.

"Or, I could read them!" Tina threw out, patting her brother's knee harshly as he stared at his girlfriend. Donna's eyes met hers in a quizzical stare. "I love reading. You know me. Jane Austen to… Some other author."

"Oh, yeah." David's brows furrowed as he turned to stare at the brunette. "I was meaning to ask you - could I get my book back?"

Tina blinked, gulping down a breath. She hadn't ever thought that she would be seeing David again. And she had completely no idea where _The Exorcist_ had gone to. "Um, you see, what's funny about that is-"

Four sets of eyes turned to the door as it creaked open to reveal a curly-haired boy in shades and Tina let out a happy breath, jumping up and stumbling across the table as she nearly sprinted to Hyde.

"It's Hyde, guys! Everyone say hi to Hyde!" Grinning, she placed a relieved hand on his arm and looked around at the stares. Behind his glasses, Hyde eyes narrowed as they fixed on the man sitting in his seat with a stupid grin on his face. "Hyde, this is David. I'm sure you haven't-"

"Scoliosis boy," Hyde said with a smile that bordered on being an out and out threat, his arm sliding around Tina's neck as he stared the boy down. "Yeah. I know him. You still carry an inhaler? Wouldn't want you to get too excited and keel over on us."

Hyde had an excellent memory. He knew exactly who the little dweeb sitting in his seat was. He knew that Eric had beat him up when they were little and he knew that a little over three months ago, Tina had been taking literature classes from him. He also knew that he was fake as a three dollar bill, as his ma liked to put it. Under his arm, Tina stiffened, her eyes going wide as Donna and Eric and Fez stared up at the menacing boy. None of them had any clue what was going on with the pair but they definitely knew that the curly-haired boy had an obvious claim on Tina Forman. Even if it wasn't acknowledged by both parties.

David's eyes narrowed for a moment before he forced out a laugh, leaning back in the chair. "Um, actually it's all but gone. Apparently losing all that weight really helps with asthma."

"Mm," Hyde's eyes crinkled a bit as he gave the man a thin smile. "Too bad there's no real cure for that giant hump you have to live with, am I right?"

Tina choked on laughter, reaching out to pinch Hyde's side as she gave the room a smile, particularly David. "But you're really looking great, David! Really! Just like - like a million bucks."

"Aw, Tina." Hyde squeezed her shoulder. "You're being so sweet. Funny because-"

"OKAY!" The words bounced off the cement floor causing everyone to jump as Tina's hands curled into Hyde's shirt and she tugged him towards the basement door. The only way to stop this was to get him out of here. She knew a full-frontal attack when she saw one. Giving a warning glance to both Fez and her twin brother to opened the door and shoved Hyde out of it. "You kids have fun."

Tina reeled, snarling up at the curly-haired boy as the door shut with a bang. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? DO YOU-"

Finger tangled in her hair, Hyde's body pressing her into the cool cement on the wall that led down to the basement door. She didn't have time to think. She barely had time to take in a breath before his lips were crashing down onto hers, drawing her into a bruising kiss. He kissed her in a way that completely disarmed her, his tongue sliding in to meet hers roughly as he hauled her against him.

Shocked to her core, Tina opened up for him completely, letting her arms slide up to wrap around his neck as she returned his kiss with complete abandon. But more than that - she wanted more. Fire sizzled along her skin as his hands tugged on the strands of her hair, readjusting her so that he had better access, his other hands sliding along her ribs until it was resting on the curve of her butt. And then down further to her thigh as he forced it up and around his waist. Fiery need quaked through her as she whimpered, her fingers curling into the soft hair at his nape as she arched into him.

A low growl quivered along her lips as Hyde's fingers tightened along her thigh, the edge of her skirt inching up as he demanded that there be no space between them. Tina was utterly lost. Giving her one final lap of his tongue along hers, he pulled away.

"What um -" It was hard for her to find words. She blinked, her lips stinging as Hyde stared down at her, one hand still keep her leg hooked around her waist as he dragged a slow circle along the skin. "What was that for?"

His lips pressed to hers softly, sending her mind over the edge again as her body caught fire. She wanted him to do more. A smirk curled his lips as he let her leg drop and untangled his fingers from her hair, dragging them roughing along her back before they settled lowly along her hips.

"Nothing much," he rasped and she shivered at the gravel she heard in his voice. His eyes drifted down to her lips and he gave her another lingering kiss. "Just an experiment."

She blinked. An experiment? What the hell did that mean? Hyde gave her a cheeky smile, his hands squeezing down on her butt quickly before he was turning away and getting up the stairs. Tina stared after him. How was she supposed to take that?

"Hyde!" Tina yelled, hurrying after him.

* * *

_Ah, the days are starting to go by slower and slower! The first week was cool but I'm the type of person that needs to get out and run and do work and kind of scrunch my time to feel comfortable. IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY, GUYS!_

_How are you guys doing? What are you doing to pass the time? I feel a bit like that show on netflix where you're put in a room and they drop you off a box of crayons and some coloring books to get you by. It's like... The Circle? Is that right? Anyway, leave me a review! I love hearing from you guys._


	12. A New Hope

"I'm telling you guys, breaking up with him was the best thing I ever did." Tina gave Jackie a disbelieving once over, swiveling back and forth in the Pinciotti's swivel chairs absentmindedly.

Almost every single night, Donna and Jackie had their girl talks either on the Forman porch or right here in this room. Usually Tina didn't come to them - well, because she didn't feel the need. It wasn't like she was going to be waving a flag with Hyde's face on it any time soon.

"I thought you said that getting a pedicure was the best thing you ever did," Donna grumbled, swirling the cola around in her glass.

"There was also that outfit that you bought last week," Tina pointed out, setting her platforms on the chair in front of her. "You said that was the best thing you ever did too."

"That was last week," Jackie said, rolling her eyes and Tina shrugged, taking a gulp of her cola.

"Well… I don't know." Blue eyes flicked over to stare at the redhead as she picked absently at her nails. "Listen, I'm sorry, Tina but I really don't know what to do about Eric."

The one fault that Tina could find was that Donna was very sensitive to the female plight. She took every little prick at her pride as an insult to her gender. Tina knew full well that her brother was so infatuated with the girl that it didn't come down to gender anymore. He was stupid and rash and sometimes - most of the time - his mouth got away from him.

"I think you're being a little hard on him," Tina edged around the topic, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Come on, Tina. You saw him! He's acting like this possessive macho jerk."

Tina thinned her lips against the words that were threatening to seep out. Her twin brother was a softy. No one would argue that point and normally it led to him getting pushed around. Maybe a little possessiveness was a good reward for having to deal with reality that he was a giant nerd and that he was kind of a push over. And apparently Jackie's too.

"Oh, I am so happy for you, Donna." Tina hid a smile by taking another sip of her coke.

"No!" Donna shook her head. "I'm with him because I thought he _wasn't_ like that."

"You were under the impression that he wasn't going to be possessive at all?" Tina pressed, unable to help the ridiculous question from slipping from her lips.

Donna's eyes flashed. "Yeah."

"So basically like you guys were just friends with benefits," Tina stated bluntly.

Across the table, Jackie had an expression on her face like she was holding back open criticism. And Donna was staring at Tina like she had taken out a banjo and started to sing. Silence hung heavily upon the girls.

Fortunately, at that moment, Midge walked through the door.

"Mrs. Pinciotti, will you please tell Donna that it's cool when men act like they own you?"

Briefly, Tina's mind drifted back to Hyde on the basement stairs. Her body felt like a volcano that was bubbling over. Unwanted, her eyes wandered to the door. Was he still with her brother?

"Oh yes!" Midge exclaimed right away, her eyes lighting up and Tina snorted.

"Mom, what about all those feminist classes you took?" How someone like Donna Pinciotti had come from Midge was beyond Tina. Although lovable in a poor puppy kind of way, Midge was as dumb as a rock. The only thing that got her married and out of her parent's hair was her good looks and the oblivious nature of Bob.

"Oh right," Midge whispered like it had finally dawned on her that she was female and that she was trying desperately to be a feminist. "No."

With that she walked away, humming softly to herself as she went to fix herself something to eat.

"I don't understand you, Tina," Donna suddenly said and the auburn haired girl's eyes flashed a warning at the critical nature of the redhead's voice. "You act like a strong, independent female but you're agreeing with Jackie and my mom."

Tina's patience snapped, her lips thinning as she took her shoes off of the chair and leaned forward to stare at the redhead.

"So you're telling me that when Eric came in and kissed you like there was no tomorrow in front of Hyde and Kelso and Michael and Fez and Jackie and me and God himself - You're telling me that you didn't get the least bit excited?" It was a trap question. If she said no than everyone would know that she was lying and if she said yes than her argument would be wasted.

"That's different-" Donna tried desperately but Tina shook her head, getting up to throw her empty coke away.

"It's really not, Donna," Tina said with a sympathetic smile. "You can't pick and choose when Eric's going to get jealous. That's called being a controlling bitch."

Donna gasped, reeling back. "I am not-"

"Tina has a point. Maybe we could call it being a woman who wants to be in charge. You've always wanted to be that," Jackie said with a shrug.

" _Independent_! Not bitchy!"

"My brother's not a big mans-man and he's not going to go out and cut some wood to build you a house. But you might want to back off a little bit and give him some slack. You're asking him to not be human at all."

Donna's lips tipped down, her brows furrowing as she stared at the dark liquid swirling around in her glass.

"I didn't do anything wrong," she finally whispered and Tina softened.

"Just give him some time. It's not like we have a load of guys coming in and out of the group."

"Especially hot ones like David Milbank," Jackie threw in, nodding.

"You promise he'll stop trying to be a macho douche?" Donna questioned and Tina resisted the urge to shrug.

"Give him some time," she forced out, turning away to rummage around in the cabinets for some cookies.

"I mean, it's _Eric_ ," Jackie emphasized. "How long could it last?"

Tina resisted the urge to say anything, choosing instead to settle into the safe task of eating cookies. She knew her brother. They were twins and if she could say anything about him, she would point out the fact that he had stolen a beer tap from their own father, punched out two of the school jocks, and once called the principle the stupidest person alive right to his face when he had tried to publicly humiliate Tina. Say what you wanted to but under extreme circumstance, her brother was a goddamn hero.

And there was no doubt in her mind that he would keep a grudge against Milbank.

* * *

"TINA!"

Tina sighed, closing the magazine that she was reading with a frown as Eric came crashing down the stairs like a herd of buffalo. Tina knew when her brother was worried. She could hear it in his voice and see it in the tilt of his lips. Maybe it was because they were twins. Or maybe it was the simple fact that Eric's problems were so blatantly obvious to her. Especially since it had only been a few days since her little talk with Donna.

Sweat was rolling down her brothers face, his adam's apple bobbing as he gulped and lifted her feet to sit down heavily on the couch.

"Why are you wearing all white?" He looked like he was trying to make a _statement_. What statement exactly, Tina had no clue but it was honestly hurting her eyes.

"Not our problem right now," he breathed, peeling off his white jean jacket and ruffling a hand through his sweaty hair. "Right now, we need to think about dad and Donna."

" _We_ ," Tine emphasized, pushing his shoulder with her foot. "Don't have any problems because _we_ aren't conjoined twins. Just regular twins, Eric. Don't throw me into some weird sibling lump."

Eric's met Tina's and the panic and fear there chilled her to the bone. Her brows furrowed, quickly sitting up.

"Dad's not going to have a job," Eric whispered. "The Milbanks are just here to dine and ditch on the plant."

Tina's mouth went as dry as cotton. Her dad was depending on this job. It wasn't an offhand, extra work kind of job. Sure, Kitty made well-enough money for the household - if you didn't factor in the fact that all three children were back at home, out of their infancy and one was going to _college_. Five people to feed. More if you put in all the rest of the gang.

"Did you tell mom and daddy?" Tina whispered, the words scraping out as her twin brother's mouth thinned. Tiredly, he shook his head.

"How was I supposed to tell them, Tina?" His fingers pressed into his eyes as he leaned forward. "How do you even bring that up? When they were just talking about how it was saving the house?"

"Okay." Tina ran a shaky hand over her neck, wiping away the sweat that had sprouted there. The house that she had lived in since she was a child suddenly felt as shaky as a house of cards. It was an anxiety that was completely and utterly foreign to Tina. "Okay. Maybe we can help - We can get jobs and -"

"Dad's not gonna let you get a job," Eric scoffed and Tina scowled.

"A secret job, doofus," Tina snapped, slapping the back of his head. "Frank offered me a job at the Hub. I could work there for a bit so that I could just sneak the money daddy gives me to go out back to mom."

Tina nodded definitively, giving her brother a thumbs up as he eyed her dubiously. "You know he only offered you that job because he heard that you were a skank who liked older guys from Freddy Jennis."

"Ugh. What a tool," Tina sneered, huffing back into the couch with a cold glare to the wall.

Eric turned a cool eye to his twin sister. "I mean, you're the one who went out with him-"

The sentence cut off into a squeak as Tina punched him in the arm, turning an arctic glare on him. For a moment, both of the twins were silent, their eyes calculating as one of them crossed her legs and the other nursed his arm.

"Your plan's better than no plan at all," Eric finally concluded, nodding as he stood with a stretch. "I'll look for a job. God knows, Laurie won't."

"What a bitch," Tina steamed and Eric gave a hum of agreement, heading back upstairs. "You going to sleep?"

"Yeah." The brown haired boy stared down at the swelling taking over his knuckles and then glanced back at the back of his twin sister's head where she still sat on the couch. She had already flipped open her magazine again and was staring at a picture of a half-nude girl. "Ew. Why are you looking at that?"

Tina's eyes flicked back to meet his and she snorted at the appalled look on his face. "Like you don't have a stack of them under your covers... And I was curious. I mean you guys look at them so intently - like you're trying to solve every question on your math homework. Come to find out it's just what I see every morning in the mirror-"

Eric gagged. "Oh my god. Why would you say that? Take it back."

"Plus-" She tossed the magazine on the table in front of her with a sigh before turning around to lounge across the back of the couch as she stared at her brother. "Plus, that's all you guys have down here. Found it under the cushions."

Eric resisted the urge to ask her what else she had found under the cushions but decided the safer option was to just shake his head and turn to go up the stairs once more. He needed to get some ice on his hand before Donna saw it and chewed him out. Maybe it would just go away in the night…

"It won't go away in the night." Tina gave him a mischievous smile as he turned an appalled stare on her. Sometime's it was like she could read her mind. Her baby blues rolled as if she could even hear that and his shoulders went up suspiciously. Could she -? "You winced when my foot brushed your hands. Why did you punch David?"

It was like asking why the Earth was round. David Milbank was the biggest dillweed that Eric had ever come across and he was glad that he beat him up on the playground when they were little. He had been hitting on Donna. He had known about the plant and then insulted Eric's dad. And - Eric's eyes darted to the left and his nose twitched slightly. Tina knew that look. Her eyes narrowed, her nails curling into the sofa cushions. Milbank had said something about her. Eric only did that weird nose-twitch stuff when someone was being mean to her. And Tina could only guess that it had to do with her lack of willingness to give out since Donna was also a main topic of the night.

"Lots of stuff," Eric muttered, staring up the stairs. Tina's heart softened, her shoulders relaxing.

"I'll talk to Donna," Tina whispered to her twin brother's obvious surprise. She pushed her tangle of auburn hair out of her face. "That's what you want right? For me to smooth things over?"

"Yeah - Tina - That would be great." Genuine gratitude filled the pale blue of Eric's eyes as he stared at his twin sister and she merely nodded, looking away to her toes as they wiggled into the orange material of the couch. "You really are-"

"Stop." A single finger shot into the air as Tina kept her focus on her toes. "You may have punched David Milbank for the honor of your family-"

"It was a glorious victory. I wish you had been there."

"However!" Tina proclaimed, jabbing her finger into the air definitively. "I will not tolerate your gushy feelings. They make me uncomfortable."

Eric nodded. "Unspoken. I understand. We don't need words-"

A pillow went flying at his head and he scuttled up a couple of steps. "OUT OF MY BASEMENT!"

"Mom said it wasn't anyone's!" Eric screamed at the top of the steps.

"Well, I'm the obvious favorite so I win." The brunette stuck her tongue out to no one in particular as she heard the door open.

"LIES AND SLANDER! MOM!" And then the door was closing.

Tina breathed out, closing her eyes and letting her head roll back to rest on the arm of the couch. Everything seemed to be falling apart as it came together. It was disorienting and it left the brunette breathless. She didn't know what to think. She could barely think at all. Maybe everything would be better if she just pushed it away for a little bit.

Rolling onto her side, she stared blurrily at the small, TV in front of her, it's screen black. For a moment, her mind ran circles around itself. Like a dog on a leash, it swooped around and around the same tree until it couldn't move anymore. Tina's eyes fluttered shut.

* * *

_Hey guys! Another chapter down. Currently, trying to get through The Starless Sea but I'm a little dense when it comes to symbolism and dreamy kinds of tales so I am st-rug-al-ing, honey. How's the reading going for ya'll?_

_Review? Please?_


	13. Sleeping Beauty Wakes

Kitty Forman had fallen asleep at the kitchen table again. Her white, nurse's hat was tipped precariously over one ear, her blonde hair streaked through with gray and held in place with hairspray was barely able to keep it in place. A thin strip of her leggings was frayed ran all the way up her legs.

"Mom," Tina whispered, crouching down beside her mother and placing a gentle hand on her back. Something twisted in the auburn haired girl's heart painfully as her mother let out a muttered breath, her shoulders shivering in her nurse's uniform. It was hard to see her mother like this.

It made her heart hurt. And - she gulped, blinking away tears as she pressed her lips together. It made her feel like an ungrateful, spoiled brat for not helping her. Would it destroy Tina's entire world to make breakfast? Or vaccum her room? Clean the bathrooms? Suddenly all the stuff in Tina's room seemed unnecessary. She thought about her new, soft comforter and it suddenly transformed into a noose that was tightening around her parent's bank account. Guilt clogged her throat, tightening around her lunges until it was painful to draw in a breath.

"Tina?" Quickly and discreetly, the auburn haired girl wiped away the tears that were blurring her eyes and forced a smile to her lips as she met her mother's groggy stare.

"You fell asleep in the kitchen again," Tina croaked, wincing at the rasp in her voice. Luckily, Kitty didn't even hear it. Her mind was on other things like bills - money. It crowded in on her until it made every single waking moment anxiety. She looked around at this kitchen and all she saw were ways to keep the food in the cupboards. Her mind raced with it. "Mom?"

Kitty let out a laugh, patting her daughter's cheek like she always did. Bags hung heavily beneath her eyes but she forced a smile. Tina gulped, still crouched beside her mother with a hand to her leg.

"Well, woopsy!" Kitty laughed again, the sparkle in her eyes clicking back into place as if the wind had suddenly changed once more in the Forman family direction. "A healthy breakfast is a happy start to the day!"

Desperately, Tina shook her head as she forced her mother to stay seated. "I'll make it today. I've been meaning to… You go rest in the living room. I got this."

Kitty stared at her daughter like she had just told her that she asked her if she could give Laurie a good punch - apprehension with a mix of deliberation. And beneath all of that a base-line urge to say no.

"Honey…" Kitty winced as she thought back to a Christmas when Tina had thrown a cake at Donna for calling her brother a poopy head. Her kitchen had been completely destroyed. Sure, Tina had got down on her hands and knees (in her brand new Christmas dress which was equally as horrifying to Kitty as the mess) and cleaned it alongside her mother; however the shock and despair felt that holiday had reverberated inside Kitty for years. There were also other less savory occasions that popped into mind along with the first:

1\. When Eric and Tina had gone through the phase of holding hands everywhere to _really_ enforce the fact that they _were_ twins. Kelso had made fun of them to the point that Tina had slammed the refrigerator door into his face. Leaving the handle and her floors smeared with blood.

2\. When Eric and Tina had finally gotten out of that phase and Eric went around school telling all of the kids that it had been Tina that had initiated the idea because she was "clingy and a giant wussy-wusserson." She had baked him a pie that had sent him to the E.R. with food poisoning.

3\. When Hyde had pulled on her hair to get her attention and she had shoved him into a tray of hot cookies. That one actually still made Kitty laugh.

There were many others but those were at the surface just waiting to be drawn out of the waters. Giving her daughter a strained smile, she laughed uncomfortably.

"That's...so sweet of you, Tina." Tina didn't think that her mother sounded happy. And she knew that iffy voice. She wasn't going to let her.

"If you don't let me cook breakfast, I'll go get daddy," she said immediately, unblinking as she stared into the startled eyes of Kitty. Red knew how hard his wife worked. Most days he was as exhausted as her between working the little hours that he got from various small time jobs and also from constantly looking for employment. If anyone could force Kitty out of the kitchen (even if it would most likely be by physical means) it would be him.

"Fine," Kitty finally said, the words seeming to be dragged from her throat and her eyes already clouded over with worry. Slowly, stiffly she got to her feet and made her way tiredly to the kitchen door. "Use butter in the skillet. Oh and don't bring out the fancy plates-"

"I know, mom," Tina muttered as she went to work getting out some oatmeal. Her siblings would simply have to deal with that. Her parents would get the eggs and toast.

"You know that you can't use sugar in the batter-" Kitty was stalling now, her eyes crinkled with anxiety as she hovered in the doorway. Tina's eyes flicked to her and she sighed as she got out the milk and eggs.

"I'll be fine, mom."

"And for the love of God, do not press down on the spatula when you flip-"

"DAD!"

"I'm going. I'm going." A nervous, high laugh was the last thing that Tina heard as her mother hurried up the steps.

* * *

Someone was making noise downstairs. Groaning, Tina rolled over and then blinked groggily into the darkness of her room. She wanted to go back to sleep. Her mind ached for it. Working at the Hub plus school plus picking up all the breakfasts and chores around the house had left her exhausted both mentally and physically.

But Jackie Burkhart's voice demanded to be heard - through walls and plaster and layers of carpet and wood.

Cussing, Tina rolled out of bed, not caring that all she had on were a tank top and flannel bottoms. Not caring that her hair felt like a poof of wild snakes hissing all over the place. She felt about as thrilled to see the gang camping out in her living room as Medusa would have felt to find Perseus wandering through her collection of petrified men-statues.

"Well, look who decided to join us." Tina shot a glare at the redhead so arctic that Donna winced, pressing her lips together. She had learned long ago that Tina Forman could be very violent when she wanted to be. And although the tomboy could hold her own, she didn't particularly want to go down that path at this moment.

"What the hell are you doing in my living room?" Not the best way to open a conversation but all courtesy flew out the window. Her feet hurt. Her back hurt and she could barely keep her eyes open, her lids were so heavy. The time on the clock over the TV read that it was three in the morning. A dull buzz started in the back of Tina's skull as irritation made the normal restraint on her words slip.

"Kelso was _pushed_ off the water tower," Jackie snapped, her eyes flicking to Hyde who had taken up the big, green comfy chair that her father always liked. Tina's eyes narrowed. She didn't like that look.

Donna gave the brunette a dubious look as Jackie smoothed a hand over Kelso's shoulder in comfort.

"What are you talking about, Jackie? He fell." Donna's eyes met Tina's as she gave her a small smile. The girl's had never particularly been close but the redhead held a certain kind of protectiveness over the auburn haired girl. It was a distant loyalty that they both honored and upheld - no matter how at odds the two girls were. "We put a pot leaf on the water tower."

Tina's eyes drifted toward Hyde who had been staring at her with the same predatory expression on his face since she had come down the stairs. Unconsciously, her feet dragged her to him. It was like she was a fish simply following the flow of the stream. Her eyes met his as she neared him. "Let me guess - your idea?"

There was something wrong. Her mind swirled incoherently. Something -

"You get a cookie, doll," he praised with a slow smile, his eyes glittering behind his shades. Something wasn't right but he was looking away. Maybe it was just in her mind.

Yawning, she didn't answer as he reached out and gently took her hand, drawing her onto his lap. The amount of luck that he had that he had caught her when she was too tired to protest would have shocked the Pope. His smile grew as she curled into him, one hand resting over his chest as wound an arm around her waist and let one of his hands drift to her thigh.

"You could get arrested for that," Tina mumbled out, exhale a short breath of relief as she nuzzled into the side of his neck. He was _warm_ and...her mind drifted, her hands wandering to press into his heart where she could feel it pulse beneath his shirt.

"Mm," he rumbled out, the words vibrating through him and into her as he dragged a slow line up and down her thigh.

"I don't want you to get arrested." A smug smile curled the curly haired boys lips at the soft words, the feeling only reinforced by the bewildered and astonished glances of the teens around them.

Tina hadn't even known that she had said anything. Her mind was solidly set on the thing that had been alluding her most nights. The familiar scent of bonfires and whisky filled her senses. Tina could go to sleep like this. Her eyes fluttered shut. She _wanted_ to go to sleep like-

"Okay. Let's go!" Tina jerked, straightening quickly in Hyde's lap as he cussed softly, his hands tightening around her waist to keep her balanced. Blurrily, she stared up at her twin brother as he raced down the stairs. "Everybody hop into the car and let's go now."

Her mind felt like it was trying to swim through a swamp. There was something wrong about the way that her brother was talking. He seemed all jittery and weird but she couldn't - Mumbling out a breath of consternation, she sunk back into Hyde's chest, relaxing as she felt the familiar muscles in his chest roll beneath her hand.

"Where's your mom?"

"SHUT UP! DON'T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER!" Tina nearly leapt out of her skin at the hoarse scream, stumbling to her feet and slamming her shin into the table. Donna blinked, staring between the two twins in obvious concern. Tina had barely been around lately and when she was, the brunette was barely conscious. Eric had been talking her ear off about job openings and now he was acting like a psychopath. The twins were slowly losing their minds.

"Woah!" Strong arms wound around her waist as Tina went tipping to the right at a very precarious angle, her head and leg throbbing painfully. Staring at her brother as Hyde righted her, the brunette give him a quizzical stare which he deflected by letting go of Kelso's shirt and going to open the front door.

Something was definitely wrong with him but Tina had no will power to find out exactly what had shaken her brother. In fact, she was thinking about dragging her worn carcass back to the warmth of her bed. Her eyes wandered involuntarily to meet Hyde's as the rest of the group shuffled out the door, Jackie still cooing over Michael. Was the brunette actually thinking about asking Hyde to come upstairs with her? That was a loaded question. One that involved a lot more than sleeping to most guys.

But there was something tugging at the back of Tina's mind as her fingers slipped through his much bigger ones, turning to stare up into his cool eyes which had taken on a guardedly predatory look. Steven Hyde was no stranger to things that good girl's like Tina Forman shouldn't be thinking about doing with bad boys like himself. He knew the look in her stormy, blue eyes and loved every minute of basking in the heated questions rolling around in her head. He wanted her, body and soul. There was no doubt about that.

And as the petite brunette swayed closer to him all he wanted to do was kiss her.

"Come on," Hyde whispered, feeling the watchful eye of Tina's older brother on his skull as he tugged the brunette towards the door. She had been gone more often lately than he liked. For a minute or two, he wanted to be completely selfish. He wanted to take her from her bed and keep her up past the decent time that good, Christian families went to sleep.

Behind Hyde, dragging her feet but still following along, Tina mumbled out a weak protest.

"I don't have shoes on. And I'm tired."

"Easy fix, princess," Hyde dismissed, crouching down as they neared the open door. Eric looked like he was going green.

Dubiously, Tina stared at Hyde's broad back. "What the hell am I supposed to do with this?"

"Get on, knucklehead." Tina's nose twitched at the obvious insult btu she shuffled onto his back with little thought, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his throat. But nipping his neck in reprimand for the comment. "If you want to start biting than I'm sure we can take this to the bedroom sooner rather than later."

Heat flared across her face at the statement. Before she had been wondering if he had known what she had been considering and now, to her embarrassment it was confirmed. Hyde smiled smugly as Eric gagged, clapping his hands in an insistent way.

"OKAY!" The twin strained out, blanching as Hyde sent him a smirk and a wink.

"I'll only touch her a little while you're driving, Forman." Heat pumped through her entire body as his hands tightened around her thighs, guilty excitement rolling over her.

"You're such a dick," Tina mumbled, turning her head into his neck and breathing in his familiar scent as he walked them out to the car. It was stupid but his open claim made her feel cherished. She liked his brash ways and strong hold on her. Her lips curved up, brushing the band of the hemp necklace that wound around his throat. She liked him.

Hyde set her down, opening up the back hatch of the Vista Cruiser to help her slide in. Jackie, Kelso and Fez had taken up the backseat and Donna and Eric the front. Hyde grinned, his long legs taking up a good portion of the back as he crooked a finger for Tina to come in. And for a moment, Tina hesitated, her mind finally warming up and kicking into gear like a video game finally booting up. This would look really bad. People that weren't dating wouldn't do this.

At this point in time, it was more than appropriate for everyone including Hyde and Tina to know that the secret (if it ever was a secret to begin with) was out. Jackie was the first to know and Fez the last and the only reason that the foreigner hadn't picked up on it sooner was because of a dense belief that Tina's gaze would turn to him. No one was fooled - not from the moment that they had nearly kissed in the basement all the way back to the moment that Hyde had started to steal Tina's tootsie rolls at lunch.

However, desperation rarely leads to rational thought process. Tina Forman didn't want this to be real. She didn't want to like the boy that had pulled her hair and called her a batfish for a good portion of her life. More than that, she didn't want to break anymore of the fragile reality that was keeping her life sane. She wanted it to be like it used to be. She wanted her parents to be fine and the house to be safe and the carefree worries of her childhood to come back to her. Hyde was all too real. He _made_ things too real for her.

"I NEED TO GET TO THE HOSPITAL!" Kelso screamed and Tina jerked out of her frantic thoughts. "I AM HURT!"

"Shut up, moron," Hyde snapped, slapping the back of his head and sending him squeaking forward. His eyes flicked back to Tina and he gestured her forward like he was trying to sooth a scared animal into come to him. "Come on, bunny."

"Haven't you hurt him enough?!" Jackie demanded from the front seat before going back to cooing Michael into gentle blubbering only, earning her a perplexed glance from all of the teens. Was she talking to Hyde?

Tina's mind stalled out, her head feeling overheated and dull as she begrudgingly, hauling the back hatch shut before settling into the comforting expanse of Hyde's chest. It was too late and she was too exhausted to think about these things. If anyone asked she would play it off by pleading the fifth. And maybe a lapse of partial insanity from sleep deprivation.

"NO TOUCHING!" Eric screamed from the front seat, turning around with a wild look in his eyes as he jabbed a finger at all the people in his backseat. "DO YOU HEAR ME, YOU HEATHENS?!"

"No touching?" Fez whispered like someone had just told him that he couldn't eat for the rest of the year, his eyes wide and watery as he glanced around. "But physical contact comforts me."

"No. Touching." With that, Eric whirled to face forward and started the car, jumping away as Donna reached out a hand to trying and get his attention. "NO TOUCHING!"

"Your brother's gone over the deep, doll," Hyde murmured, readjusting her slightly as he pressed more comfortably into the corner, moving her legs over his as she nuzzled into his neck.

"Mm," Tina muttered out, her mind already drifting as she settled herself into the curve of his body. How was it that he seemed to fit so perfectly to her? It was irritating. It made her… She was asleep.

Steven Hyde wasn't a good guy. He had groped more girls in the back of their daddy's cars than he would ever tell Tina. It wasn't any big secret that he liked girls - liked the way they felt, liked the way they smelled, liked the way they moaned. He wasn't gushy enough to ever make the statement that Tina Forman was special. Maybe in a year or a month or - _fuck_ , a week he would find out that she wasn't.

But Tina Forman made him _feel good_.

She made him feel like he was sitting under a tree in summer. She was the cool breeze that rolled over him when the heat finally decided that it wanted to roast his curly ass. His hands drifted over her waist, his fingers playing along the soft skin that had appeared when she had curled into him like a kitten making her home. Maybe feeling this good was wrong. Sometimes, in the back of his mind, he got this weird tickling sensation - like it was all a lie. Restlessly, he pushed the unruly mess of Tina's hair away from her forehead, his other hand splayed wide on her waist as the car jostled. In her sleep, her nose wrinkled, the barely there freckles decorating it popping for a moment as her cheeks went red.

Damn. He wanted her to need him. Squeezing his eyes shut, he leaned his head back and gulped. The worst part was that he wanted her to say it, to whisper it in his ear over and over again as she went crazy underneath him. Wanted to taste her. Wanted to -

 _Bad thoughts_. He blinked, running a hand down her arm and twining them together with his. He stared down at the girl. If he wanted to, Hyde knew that he could break her. He had made more than one girl cry. But - His fingers brushed along the area beneath her eyes. Tina Forman would never let him see her cry. Not from any sort of pain that he inflicted on her. Hyde knew that she would sooner lock herself in her room than let him see her hurt by him.

Damn, he was falling deep.

* * *

Tina blinked, a brief sort of panic worming through her as she realized that she wasn't safe in her bed. That it was dark and there were windows -

"Sleeping Beauty wakes." Tina jerked slightly at the voice, realizing that she was curled around the very impressive body of Steven Hyde. Somehow, they had both sunk to the floor of the Vista Cruiser, Tina's legs tangling through his and her arms winding around his neck. The girl was nearly on top of the boy. But was it her fault when he hadn't resisted? Hyde gave her a cheeky smile, on of his hands moving possessively up and down the curve of her back as she tried to level herself up. "And just when I was about to do the princely thing."

"Kiss me?" Tina whispered, blushing as she felt the hand that wasn't on her back, moving lazily up her thigh to the curve of her ass and then back down.

"Is that what they do?" Hyde mused and Tina mumbled an agreement before rolling so that she was fully on top of him. By the silence of the car, she could tell that all the others had gone into - she assumed - the hospital. Her chest burst with warmth as she felt the press of his chest against hers, the inhale of his breath imprinting the gentle strength of his muscles into hers. Hyde's eyes had gone a stormy blue beneath his shades. Tina's eyes narrowed, her hands moving up to gently move aside the glasses.

"What's this?" Tina whispered, her words nearing an angry, confused hiss as she ran a gentle finger over the bruised skin. His eyes was swollen, blues and purple swirling together to spiderweb across the skin. Her mouth went dry, her stomach twisting sickly. Tina wanted to cry and yell and ask him - "Who did this?"

Hyde's eyes shut slowly as she cupped his face, blocking out the image of her teary eyes, wide and seeking. "Did any of the princes have angry uncles?"

"Stop it," she snapped, her words stiff with unshed tears and anger. "Stop making this a joke. It isn't. How could - Was she-"

"Did my mom watch uncle George knock me around?" The words cut through her. They made her want to curl up in a ball and cry like she used to when she was little. Hyde's eyes met her's once more. "Nah."

"You don't have to go back," Tina whispered, her mind going into a series of calculations.

"Are you going to save me from the wicked witch?"

"You're an ass," Tina hissed, her eyes raging blue infernos as she stared down at him. "We need to tell someone. The police-"

"Do you know what happens when you tell the cops?" The restrained anger in Hyde's voice froze her, sending her mind into overdrive. "You promised me that you would stay with me."

"And I will-"

"Not if we go to the police. Or the guidance counselors. Or anyone else." Hyde's lips curled up in a humourless smile. "It's a black eye, Tina. I can deal with-"

"I don't want you to!" The words were broken, wrenched from her before she could seal her mouth against them. Tears burned the back of her throat, clogging the rest of the angry words from coming out. She was so tired of crying. Why did the world always insist on being so cruel? Shuddering, she curled into his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her forehead to his.

Tina didn't even realize that her tears had dribbled onto Hyde's cheeks, his eyes shutting at the slick feel of them. It had been a long time since he had cried. His arms curled around her waist.

"Promise me you'll tell me," she finally whispered. "You won't stay there. I'll leave the backdoor open-"

"So that I can sneak in?" There was a trace of unbelieving humor in his voice. He thought she was lying. Tina pulled away, staring down at into his crystal blue eyes. "So that I can sneak into your room?"

The words slipped from her lips before she could even fully process them. "Yes."

 _Always yes_. Gently, her lips found his.

"That's not very innocent of you, doll," he whispered, the words tracing along her lips as she kept the contact.

"Shut up," she breathed, resting her cheek on his shoulder as she tried to shut out the reality. If she just listened to him breathing - in and out, in and out - than she could narrow the world down to just them.

* * *

_As always, **review**. I am a review whore and not afraid to say it so every single word helps feed my addiction. And you all know that I stick around because of you lovely little lions so **favorites and follows** are always appreciated as well!_


	14. Wants and Needs

There was something oddly therapeutic about watching the jocks try and grab every boob and butt that walked past their table at lunch. They would whisper and nod and grin like no one knew what was running through their dirty, little, ape minds and then they would still. They would all crouch closer to the table like they were suddenly cheetahs out in the wilderness hunkering down for coverage in the grass. A girl. Their eyes would widen, a primal whisper uneasing their silence. Que a coy indifference. Then _snap_ , one of their big hands would fly out and barely skate across a girl's hinny and she would go shrieking. Laughter. Hazzah! The king's had made their claim again.

"Hey, doll-" Tina held up a finger, her eyes enrapt with the table as the letterman jackets crunched and adjusted around their bulky shoulders. Another gazelle had wandered into their attack zone, her skirt a bit too tight, a bit too short. Entranced, Tina took another careful bite of her pasta salad, completely oblivious as Hyde settled beside her on the cafeteria seat, following her gaze. He smirked.

Ever since Jackie had joined the gang, Tina had almost gone out of her way to stop her open assault on the cheerleaders and jocks that populated her classes and halls. No more pointing out the fact that Greg had spelled America wrong again. Or that Janette had lipstick on her teeth and her skirt tucked into her undies. Now it was like National Geographic had come to Tina's part of the world, her eyes following every bit of action like she was watching an entirely different species.

"Do you-" A dainty finger pressed into his lips, sending a spark skittering across the skin and into his mouth. His eyes darkened, flicking over to watch as she leaned across the table to try and get a better view. Tina Forman was completely oblivious to what she was doing to the boy as her skirt hitched a bit higher, her maddenly yellow platforms sliding unevenly across the ground to bump against his boots. It was ridiculous how much a tweed skirt and button up made him want to kiss her until she couldn't remember her name.

"Sssshhhh," she whispered, her eyes wide. The cheetahs were going after one of the hottest girls in the school - Tracy Whiner. Sure, in elementary school everybody called her whiner-whiner such a crier but now - now she was _Tracy Whiner_ , top of the cheerleading pyramid. One of them moved forward, his eyes intent on the unassuming girl as she flounced by. Just a bit more - _Slap_.

"Teddy Gerard, you putz!" Tracy shrieked, grabbing her ass like she had just been bitten by a gator as the table howled.

"Nice one, Teddy!" a jock crowed, slapping the grinning boys shoulders as he shrugged, looking up at the cheerleader with a mockingly innocent smile.

"Don't be a spaz," he said as the girl gave another shriek and started in on a mad rant about how much of a screw-up he was. Tina settled back in her seat with a contented smile, barely registering the fact that her finger was still pressed firmly to Hyde's lips.

Theraputic was one thing that Tina never would have thought in relation to the jocks of Point Place High but they were turning into an all-expense paid spa for the girl. All she had to do was watch them for a moment or two and she would feel like the smartest person that ever walked through these doors.

She gave a sigh, turning to stare up at the curly haired boy. Who was looking at her in an open hungry way. Tina's eyes widened, her heart racing against her ribcage as she realized the position that she was in. Hyde was nearly looming over her, his arm placed nonchalantly on the table in front of them as the other one came around to cage her in. She could feel his thumb skimming lightly along the curve of her butt. Slowly, cautiously, she removed her finger from his lips, like an animal that had sensed a predator nearby.

"Am I being replaced for a jock, doll?" Hyde drawled nonchalantly, his tone belying the gravel that sent resulting shivers up Tina's spine. Her ears peaked, a blush creeping up her cheeks as her eyes flicked quickly to his lips.

She was all too aware of how close he was, how his smile was doing funny things to her brain. Her heart shivered. Unintentionally, Tina turned into him, her knees bumping against the inside of his as he straddled the bench.

"I don't know," she murmured. "They have a lot going for them."

Hyde's eyes darkened dangerously, his smirk turning predatory as he leaned in. "I could slap your ass every time you walked by if that's what you wanted, bunny."

Fire lit up inside her, her ears burning as her eyes turned a stormy blue. "And I would slap your face right back, Steven Hyde."

"I love it when you use my full name."

"You're an animal."

"Keep talking dirty and I might throw you over my shoulder and take you to your brothers car."

Excitement bubbled along her nerves, sending her head spinning. A small, irritatingly loud part of Tina wanted Hyde to do exactly what he was saying. Her eyes blazed, her fingers inching unconsciously to run along the back of his hand that still rested on the table. Just as unconsciously, Hyde's other hand rubbed along the top of her thigh.

"BREAK IT UP!" Eric's scrawny shoulders wedged their way between the two, sending both of them skittering back in alarm. Tina blinked. Hyde gave a low, frustrated growl. Giving a loud laugh, Eric nuzzled his way between the two, his shoulders and thighs filled on either side by his sister and Hyde. "It takes more thought to _not_ make a baby than it does to conceive, am I right, kids? Don't give into lust!"

Tina felt a sudden well of hatred boil through her as she stared sidelong at her brother, his eyes wide and mooned heavily with dark circles. Last night she had heard him flipping so much in his bed that he had thought that he might be having a seizure next door. Now he was pushing his way between Hyde and her and although she didn't want to feel one way or the other about that fact, she definitely was leaning more towards open anger.

"What is wrong with you?" Tina snarled out, shoving at his shoulder as she readjusted his skirt and watch Hyde snatch Eric's chocolate milk from his tray.

"What-" Her twin spluttered, his shoulders going up and his head hunching down as he curled around his food. He had been all nervousy and twitchy lately. And it was really starting to get to her. "Me? I'm - I love it - Oh god."

With that, his lips sealed tightly together and he hunkered down into his cold chili slosh, his eyes haunted. Tina had no clue what was up with him but if he kept being the makeout police, she was going to strangle him herself. Absentmindedly, she rubbed a hand along his back.

"Dammit. Gimme that," Hyde hissed, agitated as a wild beast as he reached across Eric to grab a tootsie roll from Tina's bag, his face glum.

"Boy, these after school specials are _thrilling_ ," Fez was saying, his smile cheeky as Hyde nodded, the curly haired boy's eyes flicking back to Tina who was sprawled out in her usual spot across the washer and dryer, one leg dangling limply from the edge. "I mean, who knew it takes only one beer to turn a cheerleader into a whore?"

"Or a couple glasses of spiked vodka," Tina sang softly, flipping through a magazine. Hyde snorted.

"Tina, skirt," Eric chided as he paced boy, his hands clasped behind his back. Disapprovingly, his eyes flicked to where the tweed bottom had ridden up to reveal a bit of the girl's thigh.

"Eric, face," Tina mimicked right back to him, giving him the finger as he shot her a withering glare.

"You know, Fez, this show contains an important message." Tina glanced over at the cheerleaders voice, her eyes narrowing. Lately, Jackie had been being more of a butt than usual. Snide little comments in the hallways and dirty looks were beginning to seriously piss the auburn haired girl off. She had no clue what was wrong with the girl but if she didn't back off from Hyde pretty soon, Tina couldn't vouch for what her temper would do. "That very thing happened to a good friend of mine."

"Really?"

"Mhm."

"May I ask who?" Fez asked, trying to sound innocent but only coming off sounding like a perv.

"Man, that is one drunk, _slutty_ cheerleader," Hyde remarked, staring at the screen with furrowed brows. Tina glanced up, seeing the blonde on the screen give a cheer and a sloppy kiss to some frat boys.

"There go her pom poms," Donna sang and Tina sent her an appreciative smirk.

"Alright, alright!" Eric was up from his tense seat in one of the lawn chairs, turning the TV off before Tina could even blink. "That is quite enough! Everywhere I look it's sex, sex, SEX! And I, for one, will not have it in my basement! TINA, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, PULL YOUR SKIRT DOWN!"

"Eric, what's wrong with you?" Donna questioned, her brows going up at the outburst.

Sighing, Hyde got up from his spot and made his way lazily over to the girl who was still sprawled out on the machines, her brows furrowed. She had no clue what he was doing but usually when he got that considerately condescending tone to his voice, it meant trouble. Tina's eyes narrowed as he gave her a smirk, his eyes sparkling mischievously.

"Here ya go, bunny," he said with an assured nod as the auburn haired girl stared up at him. Hyde placed a hand on her leg. "I'll help you."

With practiced strength, he lifted up her legs and hopped onto the machines, giving the whole room a goofy grin as he set Tina's legs back over his lap. "You're welcome, Forman."

"You dillweed-" Tina snapped, trying desperately to pull her legs from his grip but only earning a raised brow from the curly haired boy. Against the outer edge of her thigh, his palms flat and a startling contrast against the soft skin. His lips flicked up, the hand sliding a bit further until his fingers were toying with the edge of her skirt.

Tina's breath stalled out, her eyes going wide. Was it sadistic of Hyde to like that expression on her? His hand tightened on the soft skin, loving the feel of her under him. Some of the conversation around her filtered in, her whole body stilling. Her eyes narrowed. _He wouldn't dare._

What was Tina thinking? Of course he would dare. Steven Hyde always dared. It was one of the things that Tina Forman love - Her heart let out an irrational scream like an elephant that had just seen a cheetah in the grass. Hyde's eyes narrowed on her as he felt the muscles of her thighs tense under his fingers. It was one of the things that she liked about Hyde - one of the things that she found vaguely pleasant, kind of cute, or appreciated in terms of general knowledge of another human being. The auburn haired girl's cheeks heated, her throat tightening. There was no way that she was falling into this death trap. Not with Steven Hyde.

"Tina?" Hyde murmured, his brows furrowing and the hand that was on her thigh, moving up to rest warmly on her lower abdomen as he leaned closer to her, the other one still resting calmly on the outside of her legs so she could move them from his lap.

Tina swallowed, glancing away from him as sudden fear pumped through her. The whole gang was staring at them. Thank god Kelso was still propped up somewhere trying to recover from his fall from the water tower. He would have surely said something about this compromising situation. Gulping, Tina shoved at Hyde's chest causing the curly haired boy to lean back, taking in the stares. And then smirk like a cat that had just gotten cream, sending Eric a wink that made the twin's ears go red.

"WE'RE NOT GOING OUT!" Tina screamed desperately. Not fooling anyone.

"Okay," Jackie said slowly, getting up to go to the basement door. "Well, I'm gonna go check on Michael."

Hyde leaned back, his hand still rest on Tina's stomach as he leaned back against the cement wall behind the dryer. Stupid hand, Tina seethed, staring down at it. It was a distracting reminder of what kind of situation she was in. Plus, her insides melted in a gooey kind of way, watching as the long fingers flexed a bit as she took a breath in. She blushed, flopping back to frown at Jackie's retreat.

"Yeah," Hyde called. "How's he doin'?"

Although, Hyde wasn't the most sentimental, he had been the only one to inquire so far about Kelso. Tina smirked, her fingers inching down to play along the ones at her stomach, smiling as the rough fingers respond by flexing and batting at her soft pinches.

"Oh yeah like you care." Tina head snapped to the side, her playing abruptly stopping at the mean words. The brunette's eyes narrowed at the snide look on the cheerleader's face, her mind snapping back to all those times at lunch that the jocks had laughed at Hyde and he had had to take it. Anger roared up, crushing all common control as she leveled up onto her elbows.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tina said softly and the cheerleader tensed, her shoulder going up. Fez and Donna shifted in discomfort on the couch and Eric's eyes snapped up and out of their haze at the familiar tone. He had been Tina's twin for too many years to mistake that as anything other than the calm before the hale. Hunkering down, his eyes flicked warily to the cheerleader.

She was way out of her league.

Hyde's brows tipped up as his eyes flicked to Tina.

"Hyde knows," Jackie snapped, glaring at the curly haired boy. Her eyes narrowed shrewdly, her arms crossing. "Why don't you just apologize?"

"Apologize for what?" Hyde asked, his eyes narrowing and his shoulders tensing as well.

"Please, Princess Burkhart," Tina said, her words dangerously low and her eyes flashing chilly. "Grace us with an explanation."

Even lions knew when they were in danger.

Jackie huffed, venom lacing her words and twisting her face as she whirled for the door. "If you don't know than you're obviously a big, fat _jerk_!"

The blinds on the door rattled as she stomped out of the basement. Silence.

"Okay," Hyde said, leaning back into the wall once more, his eyes watching Tina warily as the girl's eyes stayed on the door that Jackie had just exited from, her lips thin and her eyes deadly. "She's nuts."

Fez nodded. "I know. You are not fat!"

Donna snickered. Eric smiled. The tension broke like a stick beneath someone's boot. Frowning indignantly, Tina slowly lowered back down but her expression was still troubled.

"Thank you, Fez," Hyde said with a nod and the foreigner nodded, everyone's attention going back to the small TV.

Something was gnawing at Tina. Hyde could feel it traveling through her and out of her pores like he could feel her gentle breaths beneath his fingers. He didn't address it, gently making circles through the soft cotton of her shirt as he stared blankly at the TV, watching the motions of the characters but not catching any of the meaning.

Tina was watching the TV with the same amount of attention, her thoughts just as far away. She was thinking about Hyde's first crush. She was thinking about how he had picked a couple dandelions at recess and gone up to the girl and given her to them, his smile shy and sweet. Tina Forman had watched from the monkey bars, kicking at the girls who tried to get up onto what her nine year old mind had thought was her domain.

She had watched as Hyde had gone up to the prettiest girl in school - the richest girl who always talked about how her daddy got her a pony for christmas - and just came out and told her how he felt. It had been the first time that Tina had felt anything other than hate for the boy.

She had watched as the girl stomped on the dandelions and shoved Hyde to the ground, sneering and hissing like a venomous snake.

Now, eight years later, her hand crept towards Hyde's once more, her fingers curling into his without a thought on the action. Tina didn't even know that she was doing it.

"I have to go," Donna suddenly said, standing up and turning to Eric. "Walk me home?"

"What?" The boy blinked, unraveling his willowy frame from the chair. "Oh, yeah."

Fez had long since left, his parents setting a strict curfew that provided zero leniency.

Tina blinked, looking around the basement and realizing that she was alone with Hyde. Again. And he was clearly thinking the same thing, his hands suddenly grasping her waist and dragging her up and onto his lap without even a word as she let out a surprised squeak, trying to keep her balance. Reflexively, her hands came to keep hold of Hyde's shoulders, her thighs splayed on either side of his as Hyde's hands came to rest on her thighs. Blue eyes behind dark sunglasses searched hers, his brows furrowing as heat seeped up Tina's neck.

"What was that about?" Tina stiffened, her mind flashing immediately back to Jackie and the irrational emotions that had flooded her. She shouldn't have cared. She should have taken it like she took the actions of the jocks who slapped everybody's asses in the cafeterias - interesting but non-detrimental to her daily life and routines.

But she hadn't. It had hurt her and made her angry like Jackie had been targeting Tina directly. And that didn't come from casual interest in a boy. That came with something closer to what Eric and Donna had.

"Nothing," she mumbled out innocently, leaning forward to give him a chaste kiss and try to distract him.

"It didn't seem like nothing," Hyde rasped against her lips, his hands tightening on her hips and then he was sliding her forward, her skirt inching up until she could feel the bare heat of him against her. Tina let out a shaky breath, her hand tightening on his shoulder as her heart tightened, her body responding oddly to his closeness. Her eyes fluttered, her nipples peaking at the scrape of his denim button up against her. His jaw was rough with the day's stubble, stray strands of curly blonde hair falling across his forehead. Hyde's nose bumped against hers, drawing her attention away from all the little details that made her heart hurt in the most delightful way. "If you don't want to talk with me, I understand. But I'm keeping my mouth shut about us going out. I'm not going to quietly follow you around like a lost puppy."

A derisive snort rolled from her and Tina's hands finally found the will to move, sliding to wrap around Hyde's neck and tangle into his hair. Leaning forward, she kiss his lips softly, her nails scraping along his scalp and causing a rumble to reverberate through him. "You'd never be a puppy for anyone."

He pulled away, one of his hands traveling up to massage along her back. "With you, I think I might be."

Her insides shook, her whole world seeming to contract around her as Hyde's lips met Tina's and he gave her a harder kiss, one that stung a little bit. Nails scraped roughly along her back, gentled by the material of her shirt as his other hand grasped her hips, balling the fabric of Tina's skirt up and hitching it higher. Her brows furrowed, her breathing growing ragged as he gave her another punishing kiss.

He was angry, Tina realized distantly. Admitting that made him angry.

She pulled away, panting and breaking the kiss. His eyes were flashing. Tina shook her head, taking off his glasses so that she could have a clear view. He blinked, his eyes flicking briefly to her lips and his eyes flashing through with gray.

"You're a liar," she whispered, her mind fighting desperately against the naked truth. SHe didn't want him to say that stuff. That made this a little too real. Hyde and Tina weren't Donna and Eric. They weren't Kelso and Jackie. "You're a liar, Steven Hyde. No girl could ever make you weak."

"Why'd you have to go and break the moment like that, Forman?" Hyde growled, leaning forward to nip at her bottom lip in reprimand. Tina gasped as the rough denim of Hyde's jeans scraped along the sensitive skin of her inner thighs. "What do you want from me, Tina? You want me to be the dumpster rat, the bad boy? You want me to kiss you when your daddy's on the other side of the door? What do you want?"

It was the same question - the one that he had asked her in the driveway that Christmas day. Her mind swirled in confusion as his teeth nipped into her neck, leaving a stinging bite that he soothed with forceful laps. Hyde's hand tightened, one moving to her ass and drag her forward, the scrape of his jeans against her sensitive, swollen flesh-tearing a whimper from her.

"I - I don't-" She stuttered off, squeezing her eyes shut as the evidence of his arousal rubbed against her, sending her muscles tightening convulsively around emptiness. Tina squirmed, flexing into him like a cat in heat. She didn't know what she wanted. "I just want you."

A harsh sound vibrated deep from Hyde's chest. His fingers yanked at the bottom of her button-up, tugging it from her skirt so that his hands rubbed roughly along his ribs, up, up, up until he was at her breasts, squeezing them roughly with a groan.

"This is a bad idea," Tina managed to stammer past the haze, whimpering as his fingers worked under her bra to run a thumb over her nipples.

"Very bad," he agreed, his words like gravel as his lips moved restlessly along her neck, nipping and licking as one hand came down to her butt, forcing her to rub against him as the other flattened her against his chest. He didn't want a single fucking inch between them. If he could have - his bit into the curve of her shoulder, rumbling out a breath of approval at her moan and the way that she arched into him - he would have kept her like this forever. "Why do you have to do this to me, Tina?"

Her mind spun at the accusation, trying to grasp onto what he was saying. Her nails scraped through his hair, trying for some leverage. A low, guttural growl forced it's way from his lips as he thrust up against her, the hand inching across her ribs, rubbing along the bottom of her breasts, rolling out from her shirt to tangle in her hair and yank her to him.

Instantly, her mouth opened under his, her tongue crashing against his in desperation as she tried to increase the friction as she pitched down into him. Was it possible to want someone in such a carnal way? To want to devour them body and soul? It shook Tina to her very bones.

"TINA!"

The two pulled apart, panting against each other's lips as their foreheads kissed. Soothingly, Hyde's fingers massaged under her top, his work-roughened fingers wondering at the soft texture of her skin beneath his. God, I just want to stay here, both of them thought, their minds almost desperate with the wish.

"TINA! YOUR TWINS ACTING WEIRD!" The auburn haired girl sighed in frustration, turning to glare up at the wooden stairs as her sister's voice drew closer.

"I hate that bitch," Hyde seethed, staring icily up the stairs as well. Grumpily, he watched as Tina angrily did up the few buttons that had popped free from her shirt and tucking it back into her skirt, her skin tinted a delightful scarlet. All his work so easily undone. He smirked, catching sight of a couple dark marks along her neck. Not so easily undone than.

"How do I look?" she huffed, running her hands through the knots in her hair quickly.

Hyde smirked, leaning forward to press his lips gently to hers. "Like you want to stay with me."

Tina didn't say anything. She was absolutely terrible at lying. Rubbing a hand through his hair and indulging in a little weakness as she deepened the kiss. Damn. He was just too tempting. He was a menace. He was a dirty, dirty drug.

Groaning, Hyde watched in irritation as Tina reluctantly pulled away and hopped off of the washer. And then stumbled a bit as her legs went limp under her.

Smugly, he watched as she tried to correct herself, her spine straightening as she tried to make her way up the stairs with as much dignity as she had left. Tina was right not to say goodbye. Talking to him anymore would weaken her resolve into mush and she would end up crawling back onto his lap and letting him do all the things that he had wanted to do for months - maybe even years.

"So stunned," Hyde mumbled, slamming his head against the wall, his hands clenching.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT, LAURIE?!" he heard Tina scream up the stairs and he smirked as her arctic eyes flashed through his mind.


	15. The Punk Chick

There was something about working late that always made Tina feel a bit alone. Maybe it was the way that that lights dotting the windows that gave a full view of the alley made her think about big cities and even bigger dreams. Maybe it was the fact that the rusty jukebox in the corner kept playing Janis Joplin back to back. Or maybe it was the fact that the Hub was so devoid of life that she could taste the silence on her tongue.

"We're gonna go have sex."

Tina glanced up from her magazine, taking a moment to absorb the fact that Eric not only had his scrawny butt on her counter but also the fact that Fez was making a series of calls from the payphone beside them. Sitting at the table just in front of her booth, Hyde was glancing through a newspaper. Eric had just stopped by to check on his sister before he went to pick up Donna.

It had been a couple weeks since Jackie and Kelso had decided to openly challenge Hyde and Tina. The former had lost sourly and although Kelso and Hyde seemed to be over the whole event (in the usual weirdly chill way that guys usually were) Tina still caught Jackie giving her little glares across the room. Also under considerable construction was her brother. His sex drive had come back at an alarming rate after his brief stint in abstinence.

"So much sex," her twin brother gushed and Tina's face convulsed in a horrified grimace. The way that he had been acting after he had seen their parents going at it, he would never be able to perform the act of lovemaking again. Her eyes ran over his red cheeks and toothy grin and she frowned. Now look at him. He had that stupid little eyebrow thing going on that he usually got when he thought that he was being cool. Like some scrawny, comic-book obsessed James Bond who could only get a butch redhead.

Sighing, she tossed aside her magazine and looked past him.

Usually, on Sunday night's like this one, the Hub was pretty empty. Kids were either getting high or studying up for school the next morning. In fact, besides her idiot brother and Fez and Hyde, the only people that were in here was a guy that she was pretty sure was getting drunk in the corner and a couple that was having sex in the men's room. Tina mumbled incoherently, flicking a stray strand of auburn hair out of her way as she glanced at the cluttered mess behind her cramped cage of kitchen/register, tupperware and hotdog wrappers.

"Like I'm talking a massive amount of sex, Tina-"

"I'm sorry." The auburn-haired girl held up a well-manicured finger. Jackie had told her that her nails were starting to get oil grease under them from all the work she had been doing on the car with her dad. Eric stared down at his twin. "Do I look like Kelso? You do realize that I'm your _twin sister_ right?"

The brunette's shoulders wilted as he blinked. "I just thought that you would-"

"Admire your amazingly disgusting horn dog tendencies? Bow down to you in devotion at the sad reminder that you're actually a boy and not an incredibly lanky female with short, shaggy hair?"

"You're - you - I -" Eric's eyes flicked futilely to the ceiling as he sputtered incoherently. Behind him, Hyde glanced back to watch and Fez had put his hand over the receiver of his phone. "Stop being mean to me!"

"Wow, Forman," Hyde said blandly, throwing an arm over the back of his chair as he stared at the twins. "It's like I'm reliving all those days that bunny made you eat worms and road you around like a pony." He smirked suddenly, his eyes flashing behind his sunglasses, his eyes catching Tina's. "Those were fun."

Tina snickered, watching as her brother flashed a hurt look to Hyde. And then defiance straightened his spine and his eyes flashed between the pair. "You are just - I can't take this sort of abuse - Bullies - Mom told you -"

"Oh, Eric," Fez said sadly, shaking his head. "Do not make it worse. It is embarrassing."

Tina stuck her tongue out at her brother, turning away briefly to riffle around in the cabinet's for the schedule.

"Can I have a set of tatter-" A husky, dazed voice said from behind her.

"If I told you once, I've told you a hundred times. No tater tots," Tina snapped, turning to glare at the clearly stoned hippie whose hair was tangled into a band that wrapped around his head. His name was Hippie Tater Tots and he came in almost every day around this time.

"Woah, chicky," he exclaimed, hold up his hands, his wrists too weak and leaving his fingers to flop about. Eric's brows went up beside the man. Behind them both, she saw Hyde watching the exchange closely. "Why don't you take a chill? You're too pretty to-"

"If you don't buy anything in the next five seconds, I'm going to chase you out with a broom," Tina snarled, slamming a hand down on the register to lean closer to the man, her eyes snapping with restrained ice as she glared at him. Dangerously, her hand moved to rest on her hip, her lips thinning.

The first month that she had worked at the Hub, she had taken these kinds of rants. She had even indulged them to a certain extent, creating what she now knew to be an unhealthy banter. She'd soon found out that far from the weekly roasts that Hyde and her brother presided over in her basement, these idiots did it every hour on the hour. They'd fried their brains into mush.

Begrudgingly, the hippie left, mumbling an incoherent stream of what she assumed to be half-baked insults but just sounded like a random list that her mom had for shopping. Tina watched the man leave, her shoulders tense.

Whistling, Eric sat back on the counter, staring at the door.

Frank had been taking more and more nights off from the rat's nest, barely teaching her the ins and outs before he took a million half-days and dropped ehr with most of the labor for a fraction of his income. Unfortunately, these facts were all too apparent to Tina while she was trapped in the Hub. Which made her a living, breathing rattlesnake coiled up behind the tiny counter.

"Get off my counter," Tina snapped, leaning forward to shove her twin to the floor so that she could hop up onto the dusty surface. Sputtering, Eric scrambled to his feet, staring at her for a moment before straightening his clothes and jabbing a finger at her.

"Mom told you to stop being mean to me," he stated, raising his brows at her. It was true. Mom had told Tina that she need to be nicer to her twin brother.

"That's only because you saw them bonking and you're too much of a wimp to get past it," Tina retorted acidically, watching her brother pale and his shoulders wilt. This was also true. The few days after Eric had had the misfortune of seeing his parents going at it like too rabid hyenas had made Eric not only lose three pounds but also break out in a fit of acne. Kitty had feared that if her son was going to recover, Tina's constant jabs were going to need to be controlled.

Tina thought the exact opposite.

"I'm gonna tell mom," Eric hissed and Tina sneered.

"Is that a threat?" Her blue eyes crackled ominously as Eric haltingly nodded, watching in utter horror as a smirk curled her lips. "HYDE! ERIC'S THREATENING ME!"

The punch was so swift and painful that all the brunette could do was give a high squeak and stumble into a table, clutching his leg. Tina clapped gleefully, blowing the curly-haired boy a kiss without a second thought as he smirked and snapped his newspaper into attention again.

"Don't threaten the auburn-haired bunny behind the counter," Hyde said, his words deceptively devoid of emotion.

"That's not fair!" Eric hissed, rubbing his leg as he hobbled back to the counter. "No using boyfriends to inflict pain on me."

"He's not my boyfriend." The words were pulled from a place of absolute fear - automatic and harsh like a tooth being ripped from the mouth of a child.

In no way was it based in truth. No one inside or outside of the gang would say that Hyde and Tina were completely normal friends in a friendly, non-sexual, completely platonic kind of relationship. In fact, most of the people that attended Point Place High wouldn't have said that since the day that Tina Forman had punched Tracy Burnstein in the face for calling Hyde trailer trash and the son of a dirty whore in the middle of gym. And then promptly started in on a loud, raving rant to the whole assembled group about how any further name-calling to Steven Hyde would result in a concussion.

Tracy Burnstein did not go to the hospital for a concussion.

The official reports would read that she had a broken nose and stitches for a busted lip.

More still would say that they had been an item ever since eighth grade when Burt Heidler kissed Tina in the middle of the lunch line and then told her that she tasted "funny." Shocked, Tina hadn't been able to do anything but keep a white-knuckled grip on her lunch tray and stare at the cluster of boys laughing at her.

Hyde had launched himself at the group like a rabid dog, kicking and snarling until pieces of clothing was fluttering through the air and one of the boys was crying in the fetal position a few feet away clutching his nads. Kelso, mindless labrador that he was, had quickly jumped in. Followed by her twin who would later say that his spidey-twin senses had been tingling. In fact, Eric had simply seen a way to redeem himself for crying in the girls locker room a week before after seeing the murder of Gwen Stacy by the hands of the Green Goblin. Spiderman's anguish had obviously affected him.

At this point, even Tina didn't fully understand why she was denying it anymore. It had moved from being a challenge and kind of funny to something that hurt. Maybe the simple truth was that she had been denying it for so long that there was no way that she could look at the blinding truth without it being painful. Maybe that was what she feared: the instant, instinctive pain of realizing that Hyde and her were never going to be able to go back to being "just friends."

"We're not going out," Tina said again, blinking rapidly as she stared at her brother who had stilled, his eyes wandering to Hyde who hadn't looked up from his magazine.

"Thanks for reiterating, doll," Hyde snapped, nearly ripping through a page as he turned it.

Fez winced. So did Eric.

The auburn-haired girl blinked, swallowing thickly as her heart constricted, her stomach flipping and twisting painfully in an emotion that was hard for her to pinpoint. She watched Hyde's tense shoulders, his head tipped forward as she stared intently at the paper in his hands. The feeling that she had felt a lot like guilt.

It felt a lot like she had just lied.

"I - I need to -" Eyes burning, Tina hurried to grab up the broom in the corner of her small confines and hurried to the bathroom without looking at any of the boys.

The truth was that she felt awful. She felt cruel and unthinking. Was this how Laurie felt? Tina blanched, shivering as she finally, fully took in the cruddy, sharpie covered bathroom around her. She had thought that the couple would still be in here. It turned out that they had thought it would be more entertaining to shimmy out the window.

"Jesus," Tina whispered harshly, coming to a stop in front of the dirty mirror above the sinks. "What are you doing?"

In the mirror, the blurry figure of a girl with a wild tangle of auburn hair half up in a bun and cascading down her shoulders and back stared back at her.

Tina thought she looked like a nice enough girl. Her mother was pretty. Her father was handsome. Naturally, she would be okay too. She had no illusions. It was one of the reasons that she never fully liked books. The protagonists always seemed to want more and she never really wanted anything. She didn't want to change her figure which bordered on being willowy. She didn't want to change her striking blue eyes that looked like cold shards of ice. She didn't want to change her unnaturally thick, auburn hair.

Tina Forman didn't even want to change her childhood. She didn't want to change how hard things had been the last year or so. Or how complicated things had become.

Unthinking, she pressed a hand to the mirror, the glass underneath her fingers feeling like chilled wax.

Girl's in books were incomplete. They wanted things.

The only thing that Tina Forman wanted right at this moment was sitting out at that table right now in a cozy sweater and sunglasses reading a newspaper.

"You're an idiot," Tina whispered, suddenly furiously. She wanted to cry at how mad she was at herself. If she could have made a clone of herself, she would have given herself a good whack.

"You wanna hop on my Vespa and show me where it is?"

Tina's brows furrowed. That definitely wasn't Eric. And no one in Point Place had a Vespa. Vespa's were for kids that were heading to California. Or New York. Or some other, unattainable place out in the big wide world, far, far away from Wisconsin.

Grabbing up her broom again, she shoved open the door to the restroom to see a leather-clad figure standing like the archangel of Vespas and weed. Tina's breath stopped, a sudden, irrational realization gripping her insides like talons as Hyde's eyes slowly met hers. Her fingers convulsed on the broom, splinters digging into her palms.

Flipping her dirty, blond hair away from her face, the archangel raised a brow at the auburn-haired girl in her white Oxford button-up and black skirt and those ever-present yellow platforms.

Her name was Chrissy Gordon and she was so unimpressed by Tina Forman that she actually smirked, her throat constricting in a restrained laugh. Coming from the depressingly murky lakes of Minnesota, Chrissy Gordon had seen enough cheerleaders and jocks to last her an entire lifetime. She had ridden her little blue Vespa through the countryside and small cities too far to be intimidated by a girl that looked like she couldn't even tell off a mouse.

"You were saying…" Tina's head snapped to the side, a sudden unclogging gurgling through her brain like a drain being released. Hyde's eyes had moved idly to the Vespa parked just outside of the front door, his eyes moving once more to meet Tina's.

Chrissy chuckled, turning her attention back to the curly haired boy in front of her. "Wanna get out of this pukehole for the night?"

"Hyde has to go home." Tina didn't know what she was saying. Something desperate and ugly was leading her like she was being dragged by a team of dogs through the bitter cold. "Right, Hyde?"

Hyde's head tipped to the side, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the auburn haired girl. If he was a nicer guy, if he hadn't just felt like the lowest piece of trash in all of Wisconsin from two simple statements made by the girl looking at him like she was about to fall off the side of a cliff, then maybe he would have sent the slutty, guitar girl on her way.

"Oh dear," Fez whispered, his fingers working sullenly in his lap as he watched the three nervously.

"You know what Tina," Hyde said, an angry smile curling his lips as he got up slowly and Tina's heart inflated into a painful tumor in her chest. He grabbed up his jacket, shrugging into it as Chrissy tossed a smug grin over her shoulder. "I don't think I have anything to do tonight. In fact, I'm such a big boy that I might be able to stay out the _whole night_."

"Hyde-" Tina stepped forward, wanting to tell him how stupid she had been, how much she wanted to-

"Calm down, doll," he said, heading towards the door. His eyes caught hers coldly as he held the door open for Chirssy. "It's not like I'm your _boyfriend_."

It was a low blow. Tina gulped down a breath, pain searing through her as she watched him leave. Why wasn't she moving? Why wasn't she calling out to him? She was watching him leave and she was just _letting_ him. What was _wrong_ with her?

"HYDE!" By the time that she got out the door, they were already gone.

And she was just the girl standing outside of the Hub with a broom.

In that moment, everything that Chrissy Gordon had thought about Tina Forman at first sight had been proven to be completely and utterly true.


	16. Skanks on Mopeds

There was something happening inside of Tina that she didn't quite understand. Something that was eating her up, hollowing out her insides until everything seemed to press down on her. The world was suddenly so heavy, even the air felt like it was resting upon her. For the first time, Tina felt completely and utterly… _frail_.

"I-um-" Tina blinked rapidly, swallowing a couple times as she stared down the empty alleyway. She didn't know how long she had been standing there. Long enough for Fez to come and linger in the open Hub door, his brows furrowed, gnawing nervously at the corndog in his hand. Her eyes burned, her throat knotting into a painful twist. Was she crying? Tina reached up, pulling back in horror as her fingers caught the first drops of tears. "Oh shit."

Hands shaking, Tina turned away from Fez, rubbing roughly at her eyes. But they wouldn't stop. Oh great. And now snot was pouring down her face.

"Tina?"

"I-I'm - I'm f-fine, Fez - Fez." Tina let out a sob, curling in on herself as she pressed her heels hard against her eyelids. Hyde had always made fun of her when she had started to hiccup - cry. But fuck him. He was an awful horrible _boy_. Such a _stupid_ awful horrible boy. Tina let out a wail.

Her mind screamed that she hated him. Hyde had been everything that she had wanted and now he was on the back of some skanks moped. She hoped he kept getting hit in the face with her greasy, unwashed hair, Tina thought vehemently. But somewhere inside of her she knew that, a deep part screamed that it was her fault. She had caused this.

And that was more painful than anything that Tina could have ever faced.

"C-corndog?" Fez offered lamely, looking more nervous and uncomfortable than he had ever been before. And that included the moment that Stacy Vanny barfed all over his crotch at the Snow Queen Dance.

Tina needed to get out of here. Blindly, she fumbled for the keys in her pocket, stumbling to the door.

"You-you need to drive - to drive m-me home," Tina hiccuped, ignoring the fact that snot and tears were mixing into a mess at her her chin and dripping onto her button up.

"I don't really -" Fez stopped, gulping as Tina pushed the keys into his hand and slamming into a table as she switched off the lights and locked up the doors to the Hub. And then unlocked them when she realized that she was trapped inside. "I'll figure it out."

"Didn't you have a purse?" Fez asked, clearly unnerved at the way that Tina had submitted to a wave of quietly staring at her hands as she slid into the passenger seat of her dad's car. He had let her borrow it for the night - a decision that he would have immediately regretted if he could see Fez looking on the top of the steering wheel and dash for a place to plug the keys in.

"Please just-" Tina blinked, swallowing back a mixture of tears and snot. She let her eyes flutter shut, ignoring the sting. "Just please take me home, Fez. I - I just want to go home."

Fez shifted, taking a deep breath as he finally found the key slot. He had never seen her like this. Tina Forman had always been the strong one - the unwavering one who stayed firmly planted on the ground. And Hyde - Fez winced, pulling out of the parking lot, running over the curb as he turned. Hyde had stayed planted firmly beside her. Fez couldn't imagine a world where Hyde and Tina...were separate.

Tina Forman was thinking about Hyde. She was thinking about the night she had pulled off his glasses and kissed him in the driveway of her house. She was thinking about a moped pulling into another driveway - a boy with curly hair getting off first, his hands trailing a girls waist that wasn't Tinas. And then he was leaning down and it wasn't Tina that he was kissing.

"Should I park-?" Fez stopped, wincing as he looked over to see that Tina was staring blindly out the window, silently crying as streetlights caught her face, illuminating the stark planes of her face. "I'll figure it out."

Tina wasn't sure when the car pulled into the driveway or when the engine clicked to silence. All she really knew was that Fez was suddenly pulling her from the passenger seat, shutting the door softly and leading her with a hand to her back to her porch door. She blinked, staring into the darkened depths of her kitchen. Everyone would be asleep by now on a Sunday night when work and school would be dawning in a few hours. Tina blinked again, the realization that there was going to be a tomorrow and that she was going to have to face suddenly forcing a fist of anxiety to push its way into her throat.

"Do you need help inside?" Fez whispered, softly touching Tina's arm to draw her attention to him. It felt wrong touching her. Some old, rusty part of him wanted to look around and make sure that Hyde wasn't around. If Hyde were around… Fez stared down into the red rimmed depths of Tina's eyes, her lashes stuck in clumps as fresh tears dripped slowly down her cheeks. She was staring up at him but there was a blankness there that sent a tingle of awareness through him. He suddenly hated Hyde, in some weird, twisted way that was tinged with all the affection that had grown in him for the gang in the past year. If Hyde was around and not being so stupid than everything would be fine.

"Thank you, Fez," Tina rasped out, turning toward the screen door to tiredly slide it open. "I'm sorry - Can you walk home?"

"I'll be fine." But Tina was already stepping inside, giving him a pained smile even through the mess of tears and snot. Conflicted, Fez stepped back, staring after the girl until her silhouette vanished into the darkness of her house.

A deep part of the boy thought that maybe he should stay - maybe his presence would help. But an even more reasonable part knew that him being here wasn't going to help anything. Only one person was going to make Tina feel better. And he was on the back of a moped with some slutty blonde goddess.

* * *

Hyde was miserable.

The slutty blonde that had walked into the Hub was currently trying to talk to him about the miserable state of the government and how much she wanted to protest on the White House lawn. All Hyde could seem to think about was the fact that she smelled like B.O. and should probably spend her next couple hours washing her hair and maybe doing a load of laundry.

Tina always smelled nice.

Hyde grimaced, trying to pull farther back on the little seat that was frankly making his ass fall asleep. No thinking about Tina. That was a new rule. There was a sexy blonde sitting a few inches from him talking about bringing down the government and obviously wanting to get in his pants by the way that she was touching his thighs and… Hyde was miserable.

"I want to like protest, man - destroy the government and hang all those corrupt politicians! I'm going to stick it to the Man when I get to Washington!" Greasy hair that smelled vaguely of dog hit him in the face as she nodded and turned to flash him a toothy grin. Was not washing also a form of protest? "Hey wanna -" She gave him a sly, kind of jerky look. For a minute, Hyde thought she might be having a seizure. "Pop into my room?"

They had stopped. Hyde looked around, brows furrowing. When had they parked? The moped leaned heavily to the side, throwing Hyde off balance for a moment as he quickly scrambled off. They were in front of some cruddy, roadside motel on the other side of town. It was about a ten minute walk to his trailer and - Hyde scanned the trees and distent of glow of the towns lights - another 20 to get to Tina. Hyde groaned, grimacing as he remembered the rule of the night.

A rule that totally wasn't worth it.

"Whatcha say - Big Boy?" Slutty blonde chick winked, running a hand along his chest and Hyde's skin scrambled under the contact. The curly haired boy discreetly stepped back, thinking of Tina's light touching, her hands clutching at his shirt every time they kissed.

The cold anger from before had vanished, leaving behind something empty and - Jesus, was that regret? Steven Hyde never regretted anything. But deep in his chest, something tightened, making it hard to breath for a moment.

"Um." Hyde's brows furrowed as he took another step back. His eyes focused briefly on the slutty blonde. Did she have a name? He couldn't remember. "Listen this has been… _great_. But I'm gonna...go…"

He turned, ignoring the outraged huff that followed him and the way that he could practically feel the steam rolling off of blondie.

"Is this about that preppy chick at that rundown shack?" The words were laced with such malice that Hyde stopped, looking over his shoulder. It was the crazy chicks that usually went after him. This time wasn't really any different. Except… Well, he had something to lose this time.

He smirked. "Yeah. It is."

* * *

_Please, please, please review and tell me how ya'll are doing. The more reviews, the more I write. Kind of ironic since I've been gone for so long and you guys did amazing reviewing but - I'm not going to lie to you and say that I'm kind of a comment whore - so, yeah! REVIEW!_


	17. Emotions are for Wimps

Tina stared, unseeing, at the purple of her curtains, pulled tightly shut against the glare of daylight. It was Monday and she was still fighting against the terrifying feeling of the world caving in on her. As if a single move might disrupt the fragile calm that she had forced into herself. Blurrily, she resisted the urge to shut her eyes and roll back into the cocoon of her bedsheets. Half of her face was swollen to the point of pain and the other half felt frozen, numb to any flicker of emotion.

Distantly, she could here the sound of the rest of the household stirring. Sometimes her mother woke up at 3 to go in or got in at 4 from a night shift but… Her eyes burned slowly as they moved to the clock that blatantly stated that it was 7. 7 so her mother was probably in the kitchen making pancakes and bacon and eggs and toast and - Tina's stomach rolled and she resisted the urge to gag, going very still as she fought against the instinct.

Somewhere, in the back of her mind, smuggled away in some crevice that she didn't want to even peek into at the moment, Tina Forman knew that she would have to face the world. She knew that she would have to get up someday - probably tomorrow - and she would have to put on her big girl platforms and go to school and maybe even see...Hyde. But today - Tina pulled her covers higher, surrendering to a world of steamy, barely breathable warmth and purple.

"Knock! Knock!" Kitty's giggle rang through the door and pierced the quiet suffocation that Tina was drowning herself in, making her flinch further into a ball. Maybe, Tina thought, half desperate with a lack of sleep and mild hysteria, maybe she would just go away. But that wasn't a part of Kitty Forman's vocabulary. "Honey, it's past 7 and you don't want to be late! Rise and shine!"

Distantly, she heard her door creak open and then the quiet gasp of her mother. "Oh, honey! This is no way to start the day. Honey? Tina dear?"

Tina resisted the urge to groan as she felt her mother near her and the gentle tug of her mother as the covers were pulled back to reveal the straggly, knotted tangle of auburn hair and then the swollen cheeks and eyes. Kitty gasped again, pulling back for a moment before sinking down to kneel beside her daughters bed.

"Honey - Tina - what -what's wrong, sweetpea?" A cool hand ran across Tina's forehead, forcing a breath of relief out from her. She felt such sweltering heat, a prickly sort of heat that made her uncomfortable. But her mom - Tear pooled behind Tina's eyes again - Her mom was here. Her mom.

A slow wail worked it's way up her throat, startling Tina with its furiosity. She had cried all night -she had thought - she had hoped that she would never cry again. It had become painful, like every tear was a shard pulled from her brain.

"M-mom-" Tina hiccuped, reaching out blindly as Kitty did the same, reflexive hurt spiking through Kitty's heart.

"Oh, honey," Kitty whispered, her lips pressing into her daughter's forehead as her hands ran over her back and arms. "Ssshhh, baby. Sssshhhhh. I'm here now. I'm here."

Kitty honestly didn't have a clue why here daughter was curled into the fetal position under a heap of all the blankets that she had accumulated over the years. She didn't know why she was clutching onto her like she was trying to cling to the rails of a sinking ship. And she honestly didn't care. The reason was very little compared to the overwhelming fact that her daughter hadn't cried since the summer that Laurie had decided that being with the popular crowd was more useful than being a good sister. Even when Tina had gotten involved with that dumb little Todd Jackson, she hadn't cried. Instead, Kitty's little girl had gotten up the next morning with a new sort of rage filling her - one that reminded Kitty of Red with it's brutal intensity.

So at the moment, Kitty Forman didn't care a bit that she had no clue why her daughter was crying. All she cared about was the fact that she was shaking and Kitty felt like a million shards of glass were pricking at her heart as she shook along with her.

"He - he -" Tina gave up halfway, pressing her face harder into her mother's blouse as a picture of Hyde stepping out the door of the Hub ripped across her mind.

"Ssssshhhh, honey," Kitty murmured, curling around her daughter. "You don't have to say anything. Don't even say anything."

So Tina didn't even try, instead she cried until she couldn't any more and even then she kept crying, slow, dry sobs that scratched her throat raw and made her eyes feel like they were bleeding. And then she fell clumsily into a broken sleep, where splotches danced behind her eyelids, twirling to spark painfully across her mind.

* * *

"Ah, man. Ah, Tina what did he do?" Her brother. Tina blinked, ungluing her eyes as her brother sat heavily at the end of her bed.

"Eric?" Tina coughed, wincing. She felt like someone had clawed his way up her throat. Wide eyes that looked just like hers blinked back at her, a raw sadness there that made her grimace.

"Want me to kick his ass?" Fire licked up Tina's neck, stinging her as she struggled up to a sitting position, resting her cheek tiredly to her bent knees.

"You couldn't," she whispered back honestly, smiling as her brother sneered, opening his mouth to protest. "But I know that you would try. And thank you."

Her brothers jaw worked for a moment, unspoken words flashing there before his head dropped a bit, sending his bangs forward.

"I told everyone at school that you had the flu," Eric whispered. "I didn't think you wanted-"

"Thank you." Tina's eyes caught on a tray filled with cookies, toast and water. "From mom?"

"She took the day off." Eric nodded, handing over the tray as his adam's apple gave a little bob. His eyes were unwavering as they met hers. "I would do it, you know - I would drop him in a second."

"You don't -" Tina blinked rapidly, toying around with a scrap of toast. She forced a smile, shaking her head. "I don't want that. Why would I-?" She shook her head again, this time harder, the smile slowly slipping. "It was me. Stupid me. He wanted - He asked - It wasn't all him, Eric. I knew who he was - stupid, brash Hyde." His name hurt coming from her. She whispered it, stopping jaggedly as her brother flinched. "He wanted me." A single tear slipped free. It was honestly amazing that she was still able to cry. "And I let him go. I made him feel like… Like a thing." A harsh laugh broke free. "And he let me for a bit. He played along. He played along… until it began to hurt. He let me do what I wanted and then-"

Tina stopped herself, biting on her lip hard enough to draw blood while Eric sat there, trying not to let all the nasty words he felt for Hyde spill out. Because he was afraid that they might break her. Because she looked so frail right now, sitting there, half heartedly nibbling at toast through cracked lips. She was pale, sweaty and disheveled with bags under her eyes even though Eric knew that she had been sleeping all week. And Eric didn't know if it was because of the fact that they were twins or that they had spent all of second grade pretending that the backyard was a volcano and Eric and Tina had always ended up in a tree, sweaty hands grabbing onto each other as one twin reached down to pull the other up - but he could feel it. He could feel all the broken love, jagged edges and swollen soft planes and the bitter regret tumbling out of her.

"Do you want him?" It was a jarring question. Eric knew it would be but he needed to hear it. He needed to hear it if he was ever going to be able to look Hyde in the eyes again.

Tina gulped, unable to brace against the question in time. Should she lie? A lie would be easier to justify.

"Yes." It was whispered, desperate and blind. Tina's eyes searched her twins. "Eric, I think I'll always want him." Her lips trembled, her expression closer to a lost child than anything. "Is that bad? Does that make me weak?"

Tina's shoulders slumped at the admission, something in her going out for a moment. Eric knew that his sister had never been weak. From birth, she had taken the world in her hands and squeezed any hostility that it gave toward her our her family, right out. She had been the strong one, not Eric, not even Laurie.

"Ah, God, Tina." Long arms reached out, drawing her tightly to her brother. "No. No, Tina. It makes you - I think - I think that just makes you in love."

"Ah God," Tina half groaned, half sobbed. "Not with Steven Hyde."

"Tell me about it," Eric whispered into Tina's hair. "I took baths with that guy."

"Ew." It was a sad attempt at humor but somehow, despite herself, she laughed, pressing closer to her brother.

* * *

It was dark. Tina had slept all day and now - well, now she was staring at her door, shut against the quiet of the rest of the house. Maybe she didn't feel up to facing the world but she smelled like hell and she was definitely up for a shower.

Her bones creaked as she gathered her towel and a tank and sweatpants. Tomorrow she would regret not being able to sleep but tonight she was too awake to go to sleep. Tina felt the most alive that she had all day. Somehow the night made everything seem a bit more… bearable.

She showered quickly, making herself as quiet as possible as she tiptoed back to her room. She hadn't dared to look at her reflection but from the dull pain spiking under her eyes, she knew that she was in for a rough morning. A part of her pushed back against the ignorance that she had wrapped herself in. She didn't let her thoughts stray to Hyde. She didn't let a whisper of it escape to pollute the air around her. Tina Forman wasn't a crying mess. Tina Forman wasn't fragile. She didn't need Hyde and he definitely didn't need her.

Tina stilled, her ears peaking as she heard a soft patter. It sounded like boots. A stair creaked down the hallway. Could Eric be up? Someone shuffled, as if unsure and Tina turned fully to face the door. The sound was getting nearer to her room.

"Tina?" Something inside of her stilled, her head going light. That was-? No.

Cool metal pressed into her palm as she turned the doorknob. It wasn't-

"Hyde," Tina breathed, her eyes working against her mind. He couldn't be here but he was and he was - Holding a bundle of crumpled wildflowers, too small for his big hands.

"I - Um, listen, Tina-"

She didn't care. She didn't want to hear what he was about to say because a roar was starting from somewhere deep inside of her and right now she wasn't in enough control of herself to stop it. All she wanted…

"Hyde," she breathed out again and suddenly her hands were reaching up, tangling in his curls as he gave a low groan, stepping forward so that suddenly all Tina could feel was the raw warmth of him.

His words were raw as the skated across her lips, his hands reaching out to grasp at her hips. "You don't want to-"

But she did. And she was going to.

Tina had never felt so hopeless as her lips crashed into Hydes, her hands pulling him down as he leaned over her. She could feel it rolling off of him to, the contained growl that rumbled through his chest and vibrated all her breasts. He tasted like hot chocolate and whiskey and he smelled like a bonfire in the depths of winter. Tina couldn't get enough of him. Desperately, she went up on the tips of her toes, her fingers fisting in his hair even more as his moved to roughly grasp her ass and bring them thigh to thigh.

Fingers cupped Tina's jaw, forcing her to part her lips as a thumb ran along her jaw and then Hyde's tongue was skating along hers as they crashed into Tina's cluttered desk. Tina was lost, lost, lost - not even caring that she was so far out to sea as his hands grasped onto her ass and she lifted her, never breaking their feverish kiss and set her on top of a stack of papers. All she knew was that Hyde was here, Hyde was in her room, kissing her. And… And he had been with another girl.

Slap! Hyde blinked. Tina's fingers stung as she gulped a breath.

"What the hell, Tina?" He was still standing over her, his eyes icy with confusion and anger as he licked his lip, tonguing the part that was reddening quickly.

The blonde girl. He had left with her. Hurt, fresh and new in some strange, painful way that was different from the hurt of him being gone.

"Did you sleep with her?" The words were bitter, dragged from some place that was vibrating - somewhere that made her angry and miserable all at once.

Hyde's face stilled, his eyes deepening as he caught sight of the swollen, red rimmed eyes and her chapped lips. Something in him hurt, something that made him look away from her and reach for her all at once.

"Did you?" There was a hiss to the words that made him glance up again.

"No - Tina - God - I -" He ran a hand through his hair, pulling like he wanted to yank it from its roots. Agitation rolled off him as he paced the room. "I - listen. I wasn't planning on coming here and kissing-" He took a breath, stopping to whirl on her. "You know why I did that."

"To be a dick?" Tina asked bluntly.

"Yes - no!" Hyde growled, stalking closer to her. "Don't pretend for a second like you were some perfect popsicle princess who never did anything wrong-"

"I would have never-" Tina hissed back, leaning forward.

"You didn't have to, Tina!" He snarled, his eyes lighting. "In case you haven't noticed, I've been the one who's pressing for us to be in a relationship - an open, _public_ relationship." A lump suddenly formed in the back of Tina's throat and she fought to swallow. "And there you were - perfect, little Forman - and all you could do was deny it every time anyone even thought it."

"Hyde, I didn't…" Her eyes were on the ground and it was a struggle to force them back up. "You know how I feel about you."

"Do I?" he whispered, a sudden vulnerability clouding his blue eyes and something in it scraped along Tina's heart. Hyde was never vulnerable.

"You are my biggest fear," Tina suddenly blurted out, blushing.

"Wow, bunny. Don't flatter me too much."

"I'm not -" The auburn haired girl blinked, shaking her head. "How many girls have you slept with?"

For a moment, Hyde seemed to consider than he gave a shrug in that lazy way of his. That kind of attitude always infuriated her.

"What if I'm just one of them?" The words hurt. "It's safer to be friends."

For a moment, Hyde didn't say anything, his eyes staring firmly planted on the way Tina's curls fell to curl around her neck and shoulders as she gnawed at her lip.

"If I thought that there was any way that I could control myself when I see you then I'm sure it would be safer to just stay friends." The words were soft and deep and Tina tipped her head back to blink up at him. "But when I'm around you, Tina I can't even think. All I can see is you standing there in those stupid platforms with that twinkle in your eyes and your lips just waiting for me to kiss them. I want you, Tina. And now that you've let me have a part of you, I'm not going to let that go." He smirked a little as her eyes fluttered. "Even for a slutty, punk rock chick."

Unwanted, a smile curled her lips even as she punched him lightly in the chest. She wanted to stay angry, she really did. She wanted to rage and roar and kick him out of her room and hurt him like she had been hurt.

"You really didn't sleep with her?" It was a stupid question at this point. And from the way that Steven was smirking and staring down at her, he thought it was a stupid one too.

Slowly, Hyde reached up, his smile softening to something sweet as a single finger reached forward to trail down her temple to her jaw.

"You can check my body for any signs of ill play," he suggested gently, leaning forward to press his lips softly to hers before pulling back to lean his forehead against hers. "Nah, Tina. She was a little to paranoid for my liking. And a little to blonde. And not you - so… Yeah…"

"You're being sweet," Tina crooned softly, giggling as he nipped at her nose.

"Moment of weakness," he mumbled, leaning forward to kiss her again. "You're my girlfriend now, Tina Forman."

"You're really stuck on that." She let out a squeal as Hyde yanked her to him.

"I'm not going to play around with you. I'm not going to be that guy so if you want that-" Tina stopped him with a hand to his chest.

"No. No, Hyde - I." Tina bit her lip. "I want you."

"Good," he growled softly, kissing her once more. "I wasn't going to take no for an answer anyway so it really didn't matter. You're kind of mine anyway."

"You're such a narcissist," Tina laughed, pushing against his chest as he bit down her neck. "Bossy."

"You love it."

It had been a horrible, awful day, Tina thought. But looking up into Hyde's face she thought that she really didn't care. Because her clock said that it was midnight and she had this odd, fluttering in the pit of her stomach. Maybe she had heartburn.

"Time for bed," she whispered against Hyde's lips, pulling him down again. She was addicted to the taste of him, she thought distantly as his lips parted and he clutched her to him.

"Bed?" he whispered hoarsely, his brows going up as she hopped off the desk and he was forced to step back to make room for her.

"Just bed," Tina clarified, pulling the covers back and waiting as Hyde toed off his boots and crawled into bed. "You're still in the dog house."

"I should have stuck with the whole sex and run scheme that I had going on instead of kissing your ass," he grumbled, sliding beneath the covers and wrapping Tina in a tight hold. The auburn haired girl gave a sigh as he pulled her onto the hard expanse of his chest, his hands running along her back. Slowly, the inched down to her ass, giving it a squeeze that made her squeak. "But it's such a nice one."

"You're an animal," she mumbled, cuddling into him as she felt a heaviness crush down on her.

"An animal in your bed, bunny," he replied, yawning. "Dangerous combination."

His hands went still, one running through his hair and keep her nuzzled into his neck as the other rested on her thigh as it curled over him.

Steven Hyde had never felt more at home.


	18. I'm Back, Bitches

"You could stay," Tina whispered the words against a set of warm lips, her fingers running along the stubble that a night created. In the morning light, everything seemed hazy, warmer in an odd way. Tina imagined for a moment that this was a moment suspended in time, privy only to the two of them, snuggled close under the warm expanse of her comforter.

Underneath her, Hyde gave a lazy rumble, his curls falling chaotically across his forehead. He made a striking profile against the lavender purple of her pillow. It was a bizarre feeling to have woken up sprawled across his chest, his hands having pushed beneath the worn fabric of her top, resting against the small of her back.

"We both know that I can't stay here, bunny." His voice was thick with sleep, gravelly. It sent a flutter of excitement through her. And somehow there was a deep longing growing in her gut, driving her closer to insanity. Was it possible to want someone this much when you already had them? She wanted to sink into him, soak in that scent of bonfires and whiskey that seemed to follow him. It was a different type of love than she had ever felt before, both terrifying and addictive.

His eyes darkened to a stormy blue as she leaned in, her fingers toying with the curls at the edges of his ears. Now that Tina knew that she could lean in and kiss him any time she wanted to, it was almost like a count down to the next time their lips met.

Her tongue licked along the seam of his lips, agitation making her impatient as she tried to deepen the kiss. Beneath her, she felt him shift, his big hands grasping her thighs as he spread her across his lap. He was playing with her, she realized as she felt him smirk beneath her lips.

"You're being mean," she whispered, pulling back with a pout as his eyes glittered up at her.

"Nah, doll," he whispered back, his hands burrowing into her hair as he tugged her closer. "You're just so damn cute when you get angry."

He took control, his teeth nipping into her bottom lip until she gasped, letting him in. His tongue played with hers, his hands angling her so that he could deepen the kiss. Fire bloomed inside of her, an ache starting somewhere deep inside of her. Was it possible to catch fire from a kiss alone?

"TINA RENEE FORMAN!" And just like that all of the earlier giddiness and unmistakable lust of the moment dissolved into pure terror. Hyde's eyes widened, both of their heads whipping to the side as they caught the unmistakable sound of Red Forman pounding up the stairs.

While Hyde and Tina had spent the morning waking up slowly, the rest of the family had gotten up at their usual times on a Saturday morning and gone about their usual business. Red and Kitty had a silent, ineffable system for the weekends. Both of them were usually off which in no way stopped them from rising at the crack of dawn and beginning the daily grind of chores and breakfast.

Usually, they left their children to wake up on their own, allowing them the bit of freedom that summer breaks and Saturdays could usually only afford them. Today was different however because the day before had been different as well.

"Boy troubles," Kitty had told him, looking vaguely startled as she came downstairs from soothing Tina from her crying fits. There was a constitute within the Formans that made it incredibly unsettling to see them cry. This trait had been passed down to their children and even Eric, the only child who looked on a regular basis like a whipped dog still hadn't cried since he was a child.

In more than one way, seeing Tina break down had shaken Kitty to her very core.

Red, on the other hand, recoiled from the very notion, his mind reeling in horror. Not particularly at the prospect of one of his children crying but more at the disquieting notion that his little girl was crying because of a _boy_.

"It's that little curly-haired druggie, isn't it?" Red had seen them kissing in his driveway just that Christmas. Dread made his heart go a shade colder. His fingers tightened on his coffee cup.

Kitty gave a nervous laugh, seeing the tale-tale vein in his forehead start to pulse. "Now, honey we don't know that for sure…" Quickly, she turned away, starting to make some tea to sooth Tina. "And his name is Steven, sweetie. We've known him since he was a baby…"

"I never liked that kid." Kitty resisted the urge to roll her eyes. If Red liked any of the kids that her daughter and son hung around with, it was Hyde. There was something about the curly-haired boy - perhaps the deflective sarcasm or perhaps the unaffected air that he seemed to carry like a coat - that connected with Red on a base level.

Kitty pursed her lips. "Well, she didn't say anything about Steven so me."

But she didn't have to because while parents choose to be mostly blind to the general direction of their children's lives, most were actually rather keen-eyed.

And perhaps it would have horrified Tina to realize that Red had come up with a rather direct solution to her "boy troubles." One that included shoving his foot so far up Steven Hydes ass that he would feel it tickling the back of his throat.

"TINA RENEE!" He was up the stairs now, his voice thunderous. Tina felt her heart crawl it's way up her throat as if to escape the whole situation entirely.

"Fuck," Hyde snarled as he lifted Tina off of him and rolled from the bed quickly. His eyes were half-wild, searching desperately for his boots.

"TINA, YOU BETTER NOT BE CRYING!"

"Fuck it," Hyde snarled, yanking Tina up to give her a hurried kiss before leaping for the half-opened window and shimmying out.

Stunned and still blinking at the window, Tina scrambled out of bed just as the door flew open and there was a crash from just outside.

"HI, DADDY!" Tina screamed, diving in front of the open window.

Red's eyes narrowed, his gaze flicking from where his daughter huddled, still a bit puffy-eyed and grinning at him like she had just gotten zapped by a hundred watts of electricity. "Why are you yelling?"

"Because-" Tina fumbled, sliding a hand behind her to quickly shut the window as she heard a muttered curse and some rustling from below. "Because you were yelling. I thought we were yelling today." Nervously, she tittered out a laugh, her heart beating rapidly in her throat.

Red's eyes wandered quickly over her once more, his frown deepening as he gave a slow grunt. An agonizing moment passed between them. "Your mother tells me that you're having boy troubles."

Distantly, Tina heard the sounds of pots and pans being thrown about and her mother's insistent humming. The clock on her desk beeped out a happy tune as it hit ten. Ten? Tina's mind spun. No wonder her dad had come barreling up the stairs. The Forman household didn't operate on people getting up at ten even if it was the weekends. Getting up at ten meant two things:

You were sick.

You were in trouble.

Sometimes, those two weren't even exclusive.

"Boy trouble…" Tina said slowly, her brain working to try and digest them quickly so that she could come up with a proper response.

"You know what boys want, don't you, button?" Deep horror made Tina's breath stall out for a moment. Red caught the expression, his hand rubbing anxiously at the nape of his neck as he looked around awkwardly. Usually, Kitty and he tackled these kinds of conversations together but his wife had all but refused when he had proposed the idea of having a in-depth conversation with their youngest daughter.

"Daddy, you really don't need to-" Tina breathed, her eyes wide with terror.

"They just want one thing, button!" Red declared, clasping his hands behind his back as he tried to get more comfortable. "They'll say whatever they want you to hear to...to try and…" He physically recoiled from the thought, coughing. He really should have brought Kitty.

"You really don't have to do this." A note of pleading entered Tina's voice as she stared imploringly up at her father.

Unmoved, Red gave a cough. "Your mother and I have some pamphlets on pregnancy and sex and-"

"Daddy!" Tina's hands clapped over her ears. Red paused, his lips pursed. "Daddy, I really am fine. I don't - you don't have to worry about that… stuff… with me."

For a moment, Red's face went noticeably lax, his shouldered softening. "Your mother said-"

"She was wrong!" Tina exclaimed, desperate for a way out of this conversation. And the glimmer of hope lighting her father's eyes was enough to grab onto. "There's no boy, daddy. I promise."

But there was. Currently, he was sprawled out in the bush just below Tina's window, staring up at the bluest morning sky he had ever seen, his eyes wandering between the sun and the window ledge of the girl that he had just spent a night with.

Yes. There was definitely a boy but Tina was fully aware that if she admitted that to Red then he would more than likely lock her up every time that Hyde was near.

The lie was justified, Tina tried to assure herself. But she had never lied to her parents before. And she could feel the weight of it pressing into her gut like a beating thing.

"Huh," Red grunted, taking an awkward step back towards Tina's open door. "Well… then stop crying." It came out gruff, his eyes darting around the room like he was trying to avoid any sort of errant emotions that might be dusting the air. "It uh, it makes your mother worried."

Downstairs, Tina heart Kitty hit an especially high note as she sang along to Frank Sinatra.

"Your brothers going to get your grandmother. She's going to be staying in his room tonight so you two will have to share a room." He moved towards the door.

The twins had long since outgrown sleeping in the same bed. Tina enjoyed kicking Eric in the back until he eventually pushed her off the bed and Eric enjoyed hogging all the covers until Tina drew on his face in sharpie. If the many years together had taught them anything it was that it was better for Eric to sleep in the basement.

A different kind of dread filled Tina at the prospect of having to deal with her grandmother for not only a night but an entire day.

"You know you can talk to me about anything, don't you, button?" Tina blinked, her thoughts dragged back to the present at her father's quiet words. His back was to her, his frame standing awkwardly at the threshold of her room. "I know that I may not be… I'll always have your best interest at heart, button."

Tina softened, her heart squeezing as she stared at her father's stiff back. In the Forman family, emotions were better left the secrecy of closed doors. Baring yourself hurt just as much as the actual emotions.

"I know, daddy," Tina whispered, feeling a swell of emotions run through her that was tender.

"See you downstairs," he finished, hurrying for the stairs.


	19. Bernice Forman

Bernice Forman was a singularly difficult person.

And that was exactly how she liked it.

Since Red's birth, she had suffered from not only the loss of her husband but also, in a more emotional sense, the loss of all three of her sons. While she would never speak of it for the duration of her life, Bernice had grown rather fond of the three sons that she had given birth to. She knew what they liked, when their first tears had been, and the first people that had broken their hearts. Bernice knew them by heart since it had been her business to know up until their subsequent departure from underneath her wing.

Jerry, her eldest had been the quietest of the three. His birth was easy and he was as silent as a dove, cooing in her arms until his tummy began to rumble. He was a silent boy and utter a word until he was sure that he could complete a full sentence. As the firstborn, Bernice had looked to him with a singular sort of affection. He was the one that she allowed to sleep curled against her side until he was twelve and her husband insisted that he go to his own bed. Sometimes Bernice still woke to the chill that came from not having him snuggled into her side.

Now Jerry was a dentist and barely managed to call her for the holidays.

Marty was the youngest and as such, was the most obnoxious. He cried from the moment of his birth up until the moment of his graduation. Every love he had was a burden, something Bernice bore with him since his shoulders had always seemed so frail. Marty was her flower. She kept him close like something meant to be cherished and guarded. The other two were too manly - they bulked at her gentle coddling and insistent nagging.

When he left immediately after his graduation, she cried for days. Her house was empty, cold and foreign in the way that can only be when there's still an echo of the little feet that her hall had carried and the screams of three boys under the same roof.

Then there was Reginald, her little Red. Her middle child but the first to leave out of the three.

He was the middle child and didn't speak at all, even when he knew his ABC's and could write in full sentences. She barely knew when he was hungry, he was so silent. It was Jerry, her oldest that spoke for him, shadowing him like another set of clothes. Yes, Red was quiet in a different way than the others. Not in the calm way that Jerry was but in a cloudy, stormy way that was all his own. He glared constantly and on more than one occasion, got into fights at school because children were mean and didn't like things that they didn't understand. And Reginald was exactly that.

Bernice forgot about him on more than one occasion - not in the mean way that comes from missing after school events or taping up their grades on the fridge. More in the way of affection. Jerry had always been so... _overpowering_. It was easy to dole out praise in the general direction of her two eldest - especially when Marty had been so needy.

But then something had changed. One day he was her scowling little boy and then the next he was lanky, oddly muscular and his glare had turned into more of an attraction to the neighboring girls than a deterrent. It stunned her. Completely incapacitated her. Suddenly, he was speaking about wanting to get out of the house, go into the army, go to _war_.

Perhaps that was the start. Perhaps that was why she was so utterly gutted by the notion of him marrying anyone. Because he had been gone from her so quickly - the baby that she had coddled and cooed over and prayed to God that he would just say one word to her. One moment she was spoon-feeding them and rocking them to sleep and the next they were stepping out of her front door, barely able to call her on the weekends.

Was this what getting old meant? Wasting away - the world taking your youth first, your good looks and charm, and then your children and finally your soul mate - until you were left in a house all alone with the memories of your family echoing all around you. How cruel, Bernice thought as she stared across the dining room table at her son and his lovely, annoyingly positive wife. Her grandchildren were still young, their faces barely marred by the passing of time. But her son, her silent baby boy, was already going bald, his face wrinkled. When had that happened? Should she warn him that there was more cruelty than the loss of smooth, clear skin for this life to dish out?

"Eric, you should get your coat before it gets too dark," Red grumbled, his smile strained as he eyed the way that Kitty was repeatedly stabbing at her dinner.

Tina's eyes drifted to the clock just above the kitchen table. It was barely past seven - the earliest that her dad had ever politely shoved their grandmother out the door. Not really surprising considering the fact that her mother looked like she was ten seconds away from throwing holy water on Bernice in a desperate attempt to expel whatever demons had decided to reside in their grandmother this evening. Already she had made several comments about how grainy the mashed potatoes were and a variety of other subtle digs about the meal.

"I'm honestly surprised that I've stayed this late," Bernice said, her chin raising a fraction as Kitty hurried to clear the dishes from the table. Warily, Tina followed her mother's lead, already bracing for the next verbal spanking that her grandmother was going to unleash. "When I was raising Red, they went to sleep early on Sundays. But then again, I suppose I cared more about their grades."

Tina winced. From the corner of her eye, she caught her mother's tight-lipped glare as she shoveled some leftovers into one of their best Tupperware containers.

"I'm actually getting all A's, grandma," Eric piped in, trying rather pathetically to fill up whatever awkward silence that that comment would have created. Their dad's eyes rolled heavenward, his mouth moving silently in what could only be described as a plea to God.

Bernice's hand reached out after she shrugged on her fur-lined coat, giving her youngest grandson an affectionate pat on the cheek. "Oh, darling. You're such a good boy. Even with the lack of sleep, you're trying so hard."

There was an awkward pause in the small kitchen in which Tina bodily threw herself in front of her mother who's fingers had curled around the Tupperware lid hard enough to create a small fissure in the plastic.

"LET'S GET YOU HOME, GRANDMA!" Tina exclaimed, smiling brightly as she all but hauled her grandmother out the door and into the crisp air. Winter was on it's dying leg, still warding off summer with a sort of ravenous resolve.

Bernice's eyes narrowed at the exit, debating for a moment whether she should make it hard on her son and his happy, little wife and declare that she was too tired to make the trip to the airport. Perhaps throw in a jibe about how she had housed three boys - one of them standing in front of her looking at her as if he was asking her to play nice. Hmph. The gaul after all those years of constant fights and near suspensions.

But then her arm gave another throb and she was suddenly more inclined to go back to the comfort of her own bed as quickly as possible. She had been feeling rather sickish all day, the cold making her skin tingle with a mixture of sweat and goosebumps. And gradually over the last hour, her fingertips had started to tingle. And then her hand. And then all the way up to her elbows. Odd… but she wasn't about to mention it in the presence of Red's perfect, primp and perky wife. All he had ever talked about was how she was so smart and she had been a nurse. Like being a full-time mom was just _so_ easy for Kitty.

"Well, would you look at the time," Red called loudly, nearly jogging as he hurried to open the passenger side of the Vista Cruiser. After living under his mother's roof for seventeen years of his life, he was more than aware of what that look meant. It meant that she was debating completely pushing his wife to the edge of her control or if she was too tired for the day.

Red, fully aware that the ladder would lead to less of a conversation with Kitty later that night, shepherded an unwilling Bernice to the car. Begrudgingly, but with the utmost dignity, she allowed it.

"Bernice!" Tina grimaced at the resolved look that had settled across her mother's face, her fingers white around the filled Tupperware like it was a dagger that she would finally end her misery with.

"Mom, you know-" The words died on Tina's face as Kitty sped past her, hot on Bernice's tail.

Across the driveway, her twin's wide eyes caught hers. _Help me_ , he mouthed, his chin tipping insistently towards the car.

 _She doesn't like me_ , Tina mouthed back, striding to the driver's side to yank open the door for Eric.

"What are we going to talk about?" He whispered urgently to her as he paused just beside the door.

"She thinks I'm a skank, remember?" Tina hissed, pressing down on his shoulder until she was all but shoving him into the driver's seat. "Grandma doesn't speak to skanks."

"Maybe if you weren't such a ho at the Christmas-"

Snarling, Tina dug her fingers into his ear, dragging him behind the steering wheel by force. "Have a nice ride."

 _BANG_. Tina blinked across the car at her mother, momentarily in awe as Kitty slammed the door in Bernice's face. Tina had only seen that expression on her mother when she had found her youngest daughter sobbing in the bathroom after Laurie had slept with Todd Jackson.

Eric's eyes widened, his gaze zeroing in on Tina as if he was trying to send telepathic distress signals to her.

"That's warm enough, Eric," Red called, leaning down to flash a strained smile at his mother.

"But I thought that I was supposed to warm it up for ten-" Eric started, shifting awkwardly in the seat, his hands toying with his seat belt.

Beside him, Bernice was staring at her son, her eyes flicking between where Kitty firmly faced forward and then back to Red as if to say: _See? How perfect is she now?_

"Show me tail lights!" Red called over Eric's final words and Tina waggled her fingers at her clearly panicked brother.

"Let's roll, grandma," Eric said, trying to force a jingle of cheer into his voice as he put the Vista Cruiser in drive. Her twin gave her one more glare before the car rolled smoothly out of the driveway.

Kitty was the first to break the heavy silence that the fumes from the cruiser and the aftershocks of Bernice Forman's presence had left behind. "Don't you move, Tina Renee. I'll never hear the end of it if you go back in the house before her beady, little eyes clear the driveway."

Red's face pinched, his eyes flashing with uneasiness. "Kitty…"

Kitty's lips pursed. "I'm sorry. I meant bitchy eyes." Tina winced as Kitty met Red's eyes defiantly, letting out a high, loud laugh.

* * *

Tina heard the screaming from upstairs. Or more specifically the loud, high pitched wail that Kelso made when he was distressed. Like a dog that had found out that when something's red and on fire, maybe you can get burned if you put your nose to it.

For the past hour, Tina had been debating whether she should call Hyde or not. Butterflies rammed up against her insides, trepidation making her motionless as she stared down at the yellow coil of her telephone cord. Would that look desperate? They had gone without seeing each other for days - even weeks - before. But… even then Tina thought that she might have missed him. She had always just tricked her mind into thinking about it in a roundabout way. _The gang_ , she would tell herself. She missed being around everyone. Not just _Hyde_.

Slamming face-first into her comforter, she let out a muffled scream. Was it supposed to be this hard? She missed him. So she should call him. Right?

Now that they were dating, did she need to be more careful about how she acted? Rolling over, she let out a groan, rubbing a hand across her aching temple. She was making things too complicated. But she couldn't help that. Coming off as too clingy was the beginning of the end. She had to act normal. Cool. Aloof.

"Tina?" The auburn-haired girl blinked, sitting up as her twin entered, his eyes wide and fidgety as he slipped through her door. "I… Mom sent me up…"

His fingers moved around and around each other, pinching at the skin of his knuckles, his shoulders up and rigid like he was waiting for the blow of an especially hard object. Tina's brows furrowed.

"Is everything okay?"

Eric's adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, sinking onto the floor in front of her. "I - I don't -"

Tina's hackles rose as she connected the dots. "You know if grandma said anything to you, she can eat my shorts."

Eric recoiled, looking vaguely horrified. "Why does automatically think she did something horrible?"

"Um, because she's always been horrible?" Tina supplied, rolling off of the bed to sit beside her brother. "I can go call her right now. She needs to learn to stop saying things about mom."

"I - I don't think you can do that," he mumbled out, his eyes staying firmly on the carpet as Tina ran a soothing hand up and down his back. Tina's eye lightened to an arctic blue, her lips tightening. Grandma had to have really said something awful to him to make him act that way.

"What do you mean, Eric?" Then she remembered. "Oh. You might be right. She's probably still on the plane home-"

"No," Eric cut in, shaking his head until his brown hair went whipping from side to side. "No. Not like… You might not be able to talk to her… because - because she's… um, she's dead."

His eyes finally met hers, wide and searching. Tina's mind stalled out, freezing. It's odd how the brain can play tricks on you in moments like that. In the few seconds between the last words that her brother spoke and the ones that she began, her mind replayed that one sentence over and over again. _She's dead. She's dead. She's dead._

The words seemed to hollow. Too final.

Tina jerked back, her hands stalling out on her brother's back. "W-what?"

His lip quivered. "She's dead, Tina. She - she died before I even got to the airport."

That one word echoed back and forth across her mind, bouncing off and reverberating like a tennis ball hitting against the walls of her skull. Dead. That didn't seem real. Dead. This seemed like… like a-

"Don't fucking joke with me, dillweed," she snarled, shoving Eric away from her with disgust. Anger welled inside of her. "That's not something to joke about."

"I-I'm not joking, Tina," Eric breathed, his eyes forlorn as he stared up at her from the ground.

All of a sudden, everything seemed to be going too fast. Grandma Bernice couldn't be dead she was just-

"She's down-downstairs - in the drive if you don't believe me-"

Tina reeled back, stopping her pacing to stare down at the frighteningly bare expression on her brother's face. "You brought her back to the house? What the- You didn't go to a hospital-"

Eric flinched, paling beneath her scrutiny. "I was - I was scared. I didn't know what to do. Dad said he would handle it-"

" _Dad's_ taking care of grandma right now?" Deep horror etched itself into her gut, her heart aching and numbing all at once.

Eric shrunk beneath her gaze. "He told me and mom to go inside-"

Tina wasn't listening. She was sprinting down the stairs, through the living room, past her mother as she fiddled blindly with a bowl of cereal in the kitchen and then out into the open air of the driveway.

There was the vista cruiser, sitting primly parked in their open garage. And then there was her dad, crouched over a lifeless - Tina flinched, resisting the urge to shrink away as she crept closer. She couldn't look at the face, only the gloved hands clasped tightly together.

"Button-" Red moved forward swiftly, getting up from where he was, his face tightening up like a purse cinching closed. His brows furrowed. "You shouldn't be out here."

But Tina had seen it. She had refused to look at her grandmother's lifeless body so she had seen it, his expression bared, raw in some way that Tina couldn't entirely describe. Like a child that had gotten lost, crying out for someone familiar. She had seen it.

Forcing her lips into a mild smile, she moved to his side, clutching his arm in one of hers.

"When will the ambulance be here?" she asked, forcing any trace of emotion out of her voice.

For a moment, Red didn't say anything, stiff beneath her touch. She could feel him deliberating. Her arm tightened around his, her gaze on the horizon, on the sliding glass door, on the basketball hoop in their driveway; anywhere but on the empty shell that lay at their feet.

She wasn't going to leave him out here alone.

Finally, she felt him soften beneath her touch, his shoulders slumping forward as he let out a ragged breath. She didn't look away from the horizon, the darkening gloom only lit by the overpowering garage light at their backs and the twinkle of stars. His breath tickled her temple as he laid a thankful kiss on her temple.

"It shouldn't be long now," Red whispered.


	20. The Days to Come

_A/N: Sorry for this late update but... I'm not going to lie, things have been rough. And crazy. And just... I needed some time to myself. Time to think and kind of get myself out of that hole that I had kind of fallen into._

_But I'm not going to talk about anything too serious here. I believe in the freedom to have a space where things are a bit more simple. I want my stories to be that for you guys since writing has always been my sanctuary. It's a place where the outside world doesn't have to get involved. It's a place where there are problems but I always have a solution. And more than that, it's a place where I want everyone to feel at home._

_That being said, I'm not going to be answering reviews today however I want each of my readers to know that I appreciate you and I worry about you and I want you to be safe. You guys matter to me and I honestly can say that I love you. Because you like my writing. And even though it's as simple as that, it means the world to me. So whatever happens just know that this story will always be here and I'll be here too - writing somewhere halfway across the world for you guys._

* * *

"Oh, sweetie I am so glad you're here." Tina's eyes narrowed on the magazine that she was flipping through, the smell of eggs mixed with fresh chili filling the Forman kitchen.

Since the death of Grandma, Kitty had been churning out meals like she was a factory about to go out of business. Just that morning, the spritely blonde had filled the kitchen table up with waffles, pancakes, bacon, sausage, fresh fruit and a variety of other odds and ends that made Tina a bit queasy.

Or maybe that feeling just came from the close proximity of her older sister.

"Yeah," Laurie started, sipping daintily at a cup of coffee as she hovered next to where their mother was currently making eggs and some kind of soup. "I had a final this week."

Tina bit down on her lip to keep from saying the words that were all but clawing their way up her throat.

"Oh," Kitty murmured, shoveling the scrambled eggs onto a serving plate. "I'm so sorry, honey."

"Oh no, this couldn't have come at a better time. I was really unprepared."

Tina slammed her magazine shut, her spine straightening as she hissed across the room. Laurie had always been a tactless piece of work but the little comments about all but squandering their parents' money on a college that Laurie was too busy skanking around to actually pass was really starting to piss Tina off.

Kitty stopped mid-sprinkle, the salt shaker frozen over the eggs as she stared up at her eldest daughter. Like she was trying to remember when she had become someone that Kitty almost thoroughly detested. If it wasn't for the memories of holding Laurie when she was a babe, Kitty would have probably told her to get out.

"I'll take those," Tina cut in, scowling as she shouldered between her sister and mother and grabbing up the plate of eggs. "Laurie, could I talk to you? Privately?"

She didn't wait for an answer, grabbing her sister by the collar and dragging her out the door and onto their small patio, the plate clattering to the kitchen table on their way out.

"Jesus, you're going to wrinkle my sweater," Laurie whined, shoving the smaller auburn-haired girl away from her.

There was something feral inside of Tina that roared at the shallow indifference that seemed to roll off of Laurie. Vaguely, she wondered when she had grown to hate her so much. Oddly enough, it wasn't even when she had slept with Todd. No, that had just been a minor infraction in the growing monster that she had seen her sister transform into. Maybe the reason that she hated her so much was because she had once admired her, looked up to her in the reverent way that only a younger sister could ever know.

Now, as Laurie stared down at her, cheap perfume slapping her in the face with every wintery breeze, she couldn't dredge up any of those old emotions. Instead what she felt was cold and ugly. A perfect match to her sister's personality.

"Listen, I know that all that fills that bottle blonde head of yours is the quickest way to get on all fours but let me key you in on something: mom and dad are going through the worst possible thing to happen to anyone. Dad just lost the woman who raised him and mom just lost any chance to make her husband's mother respect her," Tina snarled, crowding Laurie until the taller girl had to step back. In that moment, Tina felt like she could do bodily harm to her. "Since you have a hard time feeling anything but the urge to conquer and destroy, I'll make it real simple for you. Until this is over you're going to be the nicest fucking person this side of Wisconsin. I know you have experience with it since you've been playing at being a decent human being all these years to get all those sugar daddies-"

Even in the petrified state that Laurie was in, she let out a gasp, bulking instinctively at the notion.

Tina cut her off. "Save it. Don't make this harder on them with your selfishness."

The verbal jibes had been enough to awaken Laurie's basic instincts. She was a predator by nature. On a base level, she knew when to attack and when to retreat. Tina's eyes narrowed as she saw the lights click on in Laurie's eyes. Years of being her sister's sparring partner had made her privy to the expression. At the very least, Laurie thought that she could come upon equal grounds at the end of this argument.

She was dead wrong.

"I don't know what's gotten into you," Laurie hissed, coiling back like a snake that was about to attack. Tina let out a sneer which only made her wind tighter. "But you don't tell me what to do-"

"I'll tell dad that you're failing out of school," Tina said bluntly, forcing every bit of resentment that she had into those words. She meant them. Eric and her had been filtering college S.O.S. letters since Laurie had started. Rather than sibling loyalty, it was more so done as a way to safely guarantee leverage when they needed it. "And I'll tell daddy that you slept with George Allen."

Laurie gasped, reeling back. George Allen was a secret that Tina had been keeping since the beginning of high school and only found out because George's daughter had been crying about it in the third-floor bathroom. It was just like Laurie to sleep with one of their father's best friends. Which subsequently led to the destruction of his marriage and for his subsequent move to somewhere where the taxes were lower and the jobs easier to find.

"You wouldn't," Laurie whispered, her eyes flicking to the glass sliding doors just beside them where Kitty, Red, and Eric had gathered around the table. Tina's twin was currently staring open-mouthed at the pair, his eyes trained on the way that his eldest sister was standing. Like she felt cornered.

"Watch me." Tina didn't break Laurie's gaze, her mind whirling angrily as she tried to control herself. An odd protectiveness had overcome her as the preparations for their grandmother's funeral had proceeded. Tina Forman had never particularly felt the urge to guard her parents in this way as if any word might crack them like an egg. It ate away at her. And perhaps that came from the knowledge that someday as Red's mother had died so would her own parents and then eventually she would follow them as well.

Maybe that was why she was currently debating whether she should just reach forward and start to pound on her sister or let her slide at the detriment to her own sanity.

"Watch yourself, _little sis_ ," Laurie snarled but the threat was weak and she turned towards the door, her talons reaching out for the nod before she whipped back around. "And for your information, my hairs naturally blonde."

Tina let out a derisive snort. "Oh, please. We lived under the same roof for over ten years."

For a moment, Laurie debated sinking her nails into Tina's eyes but, glancing at the table with both of their parents, relented. Giving her little sister a parting sneer she huffed her way into the house and plopped herself into the only free chair with the air of a scolded child.

"You two have a nice chat?" Red asked, eyeing the two suspiciously. Both put on identical expressions of innocence. Vaguely, Tina noticed that her brother had slipped away before the two had come back in, out of self-preservation or necessity, Tina wasn't sure.

"Yes, daddy," they said at once, Laurie giving a smile so sweet that Tina thought for a moment that her teeth were made of sugar. Batting her lashes at her father, she continued on. "I was just telling her how _happy_ I am to see her. It's been so long."

"Yeah," Tina said blandly, folding her arms across her stomach as she leaned against the cool expanse of the sliding glass doors. "Last time was around the time that you slept with Todd Jackson right, _big sis_?"

Laurie's eyes narrowed dangerously. "And you've really moved on from that haven't you."

Tina's eyes were frosty. "You wouldn't believe."

The last time Red had felt such intense silence was when he was in a hole hiding from North Koreans in Pyongyang. At least then he could have shot his way out of the situation. Now he was stuck spooning chili next to his waffles.

"Well, isn't that lovely," Kitty said, a bit distracted by the fact that she couldn't remember if she had put the cinnamon buns in the oven fifteen minutes ago or twenty. Her eyes flicked up to where her youngest still stood. "Do you want me to get you a plate, honey?"

Tina eyed the mess of food littering the table, her stomach rolling. Something heavy and sad had settled over her the days since her grandmother's death. Perhaps it was the fact that the paramedics had declared her death with such finality only seconds after arriving, no wait and with a tired sort of air. It reminded her that these things happened all the time and why had she been so foolish as to think that it wouldn't happen to her eventually, silly girl.

Or perhaps it was the fact that she didn't feel sad at all. No. The only sadness she felt was the pain of watching her father struggle through each phone call to all of their family members. Or the way that he had slammed the phone into its phone, staring at the receiver bitterly after his oldest brother hadn't even answered.

"No, mom," Tina murmured, dragging her eyes away from her father. "I think I'll just sit outside for a bit."

Red's eyes flicked up, his brows furrowing for a moment as he debated saying something. But then the phone was ringing and he was sighing, his eyes shuttering tiredly.

"Make sure you eat something, button," he murmured, kissing her forehead as he made his way over to the phone.

"Would you like a cup of chili with your waffles?" Kitty asked, her hands flickering over the food like a bee looking for the right flower to work with.

Tina paused, halfway out the door.

"Um, I don't know," Laurie grumbled, clearly unhappy at the prospect. Tina turned a pointed glare to her sister, the two having a silent battle before Laurie forced a smile. "Sure."

One battle down, Tina thought tiredly as she slipped onto the porch, sinking down into one of the chairs lining their small patio.

Hot chocolate weather, her mother had once told her when she was little, flicking her nose and giving her a steaming mug. Winters had always been that way in the Forman household and Wisconsin had long ones. Year-round the annual temperature was in the fifties but at night it could dip to the tens with a swiftness that shocked tourists. Not that people picked "America's dairyland" to go have a good family romp.

Most days were cloudy, overcast and dim but today...today the sun had shown through with a brightness that would have usually made Tina glad of the oncoming spring. But today… today it felt wrong. Inside of the Forman household, the air was heavy and even outside, Tina could feel it pressing down on her, making it hard to breathe.

The auburn-haired girl pulled Hyde's jacket tighter around her, enjoying the scrape of the sheep fur against her nape as she stared unseeing across the growing darkness. She didn't know how long she sat there, thinking about nothing really. It had to be a while since she could hear Marty's high, girlish voice piercing through the house. When had they pulled up? Her mind whirled.

"Bunny." Tina blinked, dragging herself back to the present. A burst of warmth bit through her, making her realize that her ears were burning from the cold and her nose had gone numb a while ago.

Hyde's usual glasses shaded his piercing eyes, his brown curls spiked through with little hints of blonde falling across his forehead. Quietly, he crouched in front of her, his larger hands reaching out to rub along hers. He blinked. "You're freezing. How long have you been out here?"

She didn't know. A sudden wash of emotions made her weak, her heart squeezing. She felt guilty for not loving her grandmother as much as she should have. She felt guilty for only caring about how her parents were handling it. She felt guilty-

She lurched forward before she could finish the thought, her hands tangle in the softness of his curls as she all but leaped onto him.

It wasn't a nice kiss. It was a desperate, savage one filled with all the things that Tina was thinking. _I'd missed you. Something awful happened. Am I a bad person?_ Hyde's grip tightened around her, his arms wrapped around her waist as he adjusted himself so that she was spread on his lap. Their tongues slid against each other, tangling until Tina could barely breathe.

Something carnal and desperate had roared to life inside of her when she had seen him and that ache had only grown at his immediate response. Moaning, she tightened her hands in his hair, trying to rub herself against him to get any sort of friction between them. He let out a returning rumble, one hand rubbing down her back before dragging her closer with a hand to her butt. Hungrily, his lips slanted along hers, meeting her for every lick.

"Oh my god." Tina jerked, breaking the kiss as she blinked around Hyde's shoulder at her brother. Who looked like he was about to throw up all of that morning's chili along the driveway.

"Oh my god," Tina hissed, blushing furiously as she saw Kelso and Fez just a step or two behind Eric, all of their eyes wide.

Grumbling, Hyde tried to drag her back to him, his brows furrowing as their lips met for the barest moment before she tried to wiggle away from her.

"Dude, your sister's making out with Hyde," she heard Kelso mutter as she pushed against Hyde's chest.

"I am very confused," Fez whispered, his expression torn between confusion and old anger. Had he dreamed up the awful events of last weekend? He could have sworn that Hyde had driven off with some super hot, punk chick.

But now Tina was wrapped around him like a koala clinging to a tree.

"Hyde," Tina hissed out, her eyes searching his as she sent him a glare.

"What?" he muttered innocently, his hand squeezing down on her ass hard enough to make her gasp. God, he loved it when she gasped like that, blushing up at him. "You're the one who jumped on me."

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" Eric yelled, paling beneath the continued display. Watching his sister wiggle around on Hyde's lap - Bile rose into the back of his throat, his brain recoiling as he gagged.

"Your sister's a skank!" Kelso crowed gleefully, clapping his hands. Curiously, he turned to where Eric was dry heaving over the bushes. "Dude, you think they've done it in the vista cruiser yet?"

"Oh god," Eric sobbed, landing a savage punch to Kelso's arm before he covered his eyes and turned in the general direction of where Hyde was still trying to catch Tina's lips. "What the hell is going on?"

Tina gulped down a breath of air as Hyde pulled away, giving her lip a final bite before he tilted his head toward the three boys. "Oh yeah. We're dating."

"Hyde," Tina hissed, frowning down at him as he gave her a smirk.

"What, doll?" he grinned, finally loosening his grip a fraction as he got to his feet, dragging her along with him. "We did it your way and look where it got us. Now we're doing it my way."

Fez's mind had finally caught up with him, his tongue stumbling over the right words as Eric gaped at the two. Kelso was still giggling somewhere behind him.

"But you drove away with that girl, you-" Fez tried to think of the right word. "You _whore_."

Tina winced at the reminder as Hyde's smile turned tense, the arm wrapped around her going tense.

"Yeah, thanks for that reminder, Fez," Hyde muttered, his words cutting.

Kelso moved forward with an oddly energetic glow in his eyes. "Did you guys do a threesome?"

"DUDE, COME ON," Eric cried, looking shell-shocked and in a deep sense of agony as he whipped around, punching the lankier boy in the stomach again. "THAT'S MY SISTER!"

From his stooped position, Kelso opened his mouth.

"If you call her a skank one more time," Hyde growled, his smile savage. "I'm gonna have to break your jaw."

Kelso quickly shut it.

Tina gave a long-suffering sigh. "Listen, this isn't that big of a deal."

"Big of a-" Eric hissed, astonished.

"This whore made you cry!" Fez jumped in, pointing an accusing finger at Hyde, who had shifted in slight agitation.

"Fez." Tina's voice held enough of a warning to make the young foreigner pout. "Nothing happened between them and Hyde came the next night-"

"OH!" Kelso shrieked, looking somehow scandalized and gleeful at the notion.

Tina sent him a glare. "And nothing happened."

The slick smile that Hyde had on his face was far from backing her up though. She sent an elbow into his side.

"So now-" Eric couldn't finish the rest of the sentence, his eyes flicking between the two in horror. He didn't even want to think about the proprietary way that Hyde had her snuggled into his side. He flinched before shaking his head. "I need a drink."

"This is _awesome_ ," Kelso whispered gleefully as he followed Eric into the vista cruiser.

Fez stalked over to them, his jaw set petulantly as he glared up at Hyde. "If you hurt her, I'll cut off all your toes and feed them to wild animals."

Tina blinked, resisting the urge to pat the dark-skinned boy on the head. Hyde raised a brow. "Okay, buddy."

A decisive nod was his final parting before he flounced off to the back seat.

Tina's head spun a bit at the departure, something about the exchange draining her further. The gang. She hadn't even thought about how they would react to the fact that Hyde and she were dating.

"We're taking Eric out to get wasted," Hyde murmured, turning so that they were facing each other. "Want to come?"

"Getting wasted…" Tina considered, her mind drifting to the chaos that was currently taking place inside of her own home. Each person seemed to be running on a different track, barely avoiding a collision in the small space. Still...her family needed her…

"LET YOUR FEELINGS OUT!" Came a high-pitched cry, accompanied by the desperate scuttle of what she could only assume to be her father as he desperately tried to flee.

"Leaving now?" she asked with false brightness.

* * *

_Listen, guys, I want ya'll to wash your hands and wear your masks and keep thinking about each other. Some people might try to take away kindness in this world but I know that my readers aren't like that. You guys are wonderful, good, beautiful people._

_XOXO - Lovely_


	21. Chapter 21

A/N: Okay, my lovelies. This is a bit of a weird situation for me. I've never just put out a chapter with just me talking but due to recent events, I think it's important that I do.

In the midst of all of the events that have gripped not only the United States but the world at large, some news came out about Danny Masterson, the actor that played Steven Hyde in That 70's Show. On June 10th, he was arrested on 3 counts of rape by force of fear from the early 2000s. Currently, he hasn't gone to court and I would like to underline this information by saying that my purpose in publishing this to the followers of this story is not to start a witch hunt. Whether you believe these allegations (and I say allegations only because he hasn't gone to court and been convicted as of this date) or think that there is still a chance of innocence (which we've also seen before when people think it will be beneficial to claim rape against successful people) that is not why I'm writing this.

I'm publishing this because I never want to think back on my stories and say, "wow, that wasn't a good moment." I don't want to look back at this story and see that my readers are affected by my choice to continue. I personally have been in situations that border on rape. I'm in a field that's 70% male-dominated. Just the other day I was told that: "Usually women listen when men speak." Never do I want to make anyone feel the same helplessness that I've felt in those moments where men have inched my hand closer to their privates after expressly saying no or told me that I should be looked at and not heard. Never do I want my stories to wear the face of an attacker or abuser.

But I don't think that that choice should be mine alone. I know that there are people who have followed Hyde and Tina for these past years and I want you guys to give me your honest opinions. If you want me to continue (which I will do happily) than I will. If you think it better that I leave Hyde and Tina where they are (which I will also do happily) than I will.

Keep safe and remember that no one can take away your kindness, no matter how much they feel that they have that right.

XOXO, Lovelylions.


	22. Looking for Trouble

_A/N: I wanted to thank everyone who reviewed last chapter. I never want to discount anyone feelings so I thought that it would be a good move to reach out to you guys. With that being said, all of you were in firm agreement. I'm more than happy to continue this story. The Hyde that I write would never lay his hands on a female without her consent and I'm incredibly glad that you all saw that as well.  
_

* * *

_Looking for Trouble_

The Cheese Tap was a shithole. For a moment, Tina considered this fact. And then relented. Almost every place within Point Place was a shithole. The only thing that made a difference in the level of excitement was how wasted you could get at each location.

"There is no cheese on this menu," Fez murmured, his brows furrowing as he eyed the sticky menu that had been left on their table.

"Why would there be cheese?" Kelso said, rolling his eyes at Eric like they were in on some secret joke. "That would make this like a - like a diary… bar… or something."

"Why name your bar The Cheese Tap if you don't even have-"

Tina stopped listening as the two got into a heated discussion on the merits of the bar's name. Personally, she thought that the only fitting name would probably have been something along the lines of A Place to Get Drunk. A simple fact and a low enough bar to set that no one would be disappointed at the paltry selection of rickety wood tables and flimsy wood chairs, all of which looked like they were about to fall apart at any moment.

"There are only four chairs," Tina stated blandly as all of the others swung into their seats. Hyde's eyes twinkled up at her, a slow smirk curling the side of his lips. Across the table, Eric grimaced, his face shuttering as he glanced around the bar. He had made it a point to firmly ignore Hyde and I on the way to the bar. Apparently, his fragile constitute couldn't take the idea. So he shut it out, turning the music up and keeping his eyes on anything but the two puppies that had apparently overtaken his twin and best friend.

Fez perked up, his caramel eyes lighting with devoted excitement as he looked around. "I can go grab one-"

"Not necessary," Hyde cut him off, leaning back in his seat as he smirked up at the still-standing auburn-haired girl Tina rolled my eyes. He was getting a big kick out of being able to openly claim her like this. More than that, even though Hyde would never admit this, his skin crawled every time she was close. As if his very cells couldn't stop moving when she wasn't in his arms, pressed up against her. Seeing her, standing there in that skirt and his jacket made him half-insane.

"Dude," Kelso whisper loudly across the table, that obnoxious smile making him look like a toddler as he leaned closer to the other twin. "Hyde's totally macking on your sister."

The very thought made Eric want to vomit.

"Shut up, Kelso," he snapped, still pointedly avoiding looking even in the pairs general vicinity.

Slowly, gently, long, calloused fingers curled around Tina's hip, drawing her a bit closer as Hyde tried to coax her into his lap. From experience, he knew that she hated being bossed around. And personally, he wanted her to come willingly. It felt so much better when he watched the glaciers in her gaze melt, giving way to sun-soaked waters. He loved that feeling, wanted to drown in those waves.

On the other end of that tether, Tina was feeling the same sort of need. Across the bar, she could see two blondes perk up at the entrance of the four boys, their eyes accessing Tina like animals on the Serengeti. Her temper rose, an irrational possessiveness spiking through her as she caught the lingering glances. Not to mention that his hand was just above the curve of her ass, reminding her of that evening when he had kissed her, his hands going under the hem of her shirt…

She sat, her arms wrapping around the strong column of Hyde's neck as she glared at the two bottle blondes. _He's mine_ , she thought. For his part, Hyde was delighted, his smile bordering on goofy as he settled her more firmly against his chest, his fingers running along the delicate curve of her knee, up, up, up to the hem of her skirt. God, he loved this shitty bar. In that moment, if he didn't think that Jesus was a ploy to control the masses, he would have thanked him.

Maybe it was that besotted look on his face that made Eric slam his fist on the table, the small bowl of peanuts in the middle of the table give a distressed wiggle. "WAITRESS!"

Tina winced, feeling the tightening of Hyde's hand against her waist as he leaned a little forward, splaying his legs so that she could sit more comfortably against him. His eyes met hers for a moment, sending her a silent message behind the shade of his glasses. _If he gets too rowdy we're gonna have to leave._ "Forman, relax, okay?"

Warily, she eyed her twin, noting the dark circles under his eyes and the slouch. She hadn't really spoken to him since their grandmother's death. Everyone in the family knew that there was little sympathy to give to a woman that regularly insinuated that your mother was a whore who trapped your father with the news of a baby. But maybe she should have talked to him a bit more, tried to take away that odd air of guilt that he had had shadowing him for the last few days.

"Are you okay?" She mouthed to her twin as a very disgruntled waitress made her way over to their table, her eyes already scanning over the obviously underaged teens. Eric's jaw tightened, his eyes landing on the ground.

Hyde eyed the pair for a second. They had always had those secret moments with each other, ones that had made him feel oddly out of the loop when he had been younger. When they had been going through their hand-holding phase, he had thought it was stupid, secret envy simmering so far under the surface that he didn't notice it. Now, as he glanced up at Tina and found her eyes tired, giving him the silent plea to order her something so she wouldn't have to speak, he understood. Because to have that bond meant more than he would ever admit. It was a comfort, a blanket to fall back on when the world just didn't want to hear you.

"Hi," he said, plastering his most charming smile on as the waitress ran a clearly unimpressed eye over him. Somehow he still looked like he was ten seconds away from lighting something or other on fire but she had seen the likes before. The Cheese Trap wasn't a place that hip people or tourists (not that there were many of the ladder to speak of) came. It was a dive just a block or so from the high school and on most nights she was so busy trying to earn a decent amount of tips that she let it slide. Unless she didn't like the kids. Her eyes narrowed on the five teens, debating.

"We're gonna need a pitcher and five glasses, please," the curly-headed one said, his voice carrying a commanding strength that meant that he had swindled adults out of a lot more than a pitcher of beer.

She wasn't sure she liked that idea. "I'm gonna need to see some ID."

Beneath Tina, she felt the muscles in Hyde's shoulders tense, his body gearing up for whatever battle was about to ensue. Because there was always a battle. That was what he had learned growing up in a household where he had to all but beg for his mom to get some groceries instead of booze and cigarettes. His smile turned feral, his teeth flashing. Growing up like that you could either submit to the chaos or struggle and personally he didn't enjoy the idea of dying on the battlefield. So that was the line he walked, half love affair, half tragedy. Because he relished the challenge and also realized that one-day society would find out. Society didn't like chaos.

"Of course," he said smoothly, fully realizing that what was about to spew out of his mouth was utter trash but that if he said it confidently enough and with a bit of a bite, most adults backed down. Worse than doing something wrong, worse than letting a group of underage teens drink some lousy beer was the thought that they might be wrong. So usually adults let him do whatever he wanted because they weren't willing to call his bluff. He dug out the rectangle of plastic. "I have mine right here but the rest of the fellas left theirs back at the military base."

 _Military base_ , the waitress thought, impressed even against her better judgment. Not many kids pulled that one out of their asses. Her eyes zeroed in on the auburn-haired girl curled into the curly-haired boy's arms. Both held each other possessively, their eyes sharp as they eyed her. It was odd seeing the expression on their faces, like being caught in some crosshairs of two dogs ready to circle and attack at any moment. As a rule, she thought that most teens were half-feral but she hadn't ever seen two so in-sync. A slender brow rose, her interest peaking.

"What about your girlfriend?" she asked sharply, letting a little bit of the sarcasm she was feeling drip into her voice as the curly-haired one tensed, his hand flexing on the girl's thigh. "She on the base too?"

 _Rare_ , the waitress thought snidely, fully aware that anyone with the balls enough to go into the military right now was half-crazy and definitely wouldn't be wearing heels and skirt. Personally, she disagreed with the admission of females into the armed forces but she was also a waitress in some crappy bar named The Cheese Tap so who cared about her opinion?

The three boys across the table, tensed, their eyes heating as if they heard the challenge and resented it. Eric eyed his sister, fully aware that she could make the woman standing behind them tear up with a few jabs. That's what people didn't seem to understand about his twin - that even though she wore skirts and button-ups and paired her shirts with her shoes, it didn't mean that she was nice. And it certainly didn't mean that she was weak.

Tina stiffened, her nails digging into Hyde's shoulder as she eyed the waitress coldly. She knew that look. That look meant that her platforms were too high to be anything but a housewife. That look meant that if she was in the military than the waitress would be moving to Canada very soon. That look was everything that she detested about Wisconsin and maybe the world beyond because if another female was going to judge her like that than what was even the point. Across the world, the first group of women to have crawled, biting and hissing up into the male world of war had finally been admitted to a military academy. And here Tina was, in some shitty bar with this waitress eyeing her boobs like they were the reason that she couldn't get in line and salute.

"No," Tina purred, her eyes going a shade of blue that bordered on white. Slowly, she reached into the pocket of Hyde's jacket, still tucked firmly around her and pulled out the thin square of plastic, smiling as she flipped it around for the waitress to inspect. "Unfortunately, the military didn't like my attitude. Said I would be better as a bouncer."

The threat was there - there in the sharp edges of her smile and the thin, cutting way that she enunciated each syllable. Eric hid a smirk, catching Kelso and Fez's open grins as they eyes his sister. The waitress's brows had gone completely into her hairline, a tremble of her bottom lip the only indication that Tina's tone had affected her.

"A pitcher," Hyde cut in, clearly sensing the change in Tina. The waitress nodded, stepping back with the dazed look of someone that had just encountered an arctic blast in a warm room. His fingers ran over Tina's calf, squeezing. God, he loved it when she got like this.

"Uh soooo," a perky voice piped up as the waitress slid away with as much dignity as she could muster. The two blondes that had been eyeing Hyde when he first walked in had finally slid from their place at the bar and flounced over. Kelso smirked, his chest poofing out as his eyes slid over the nice boobs and the blonde hair. Tina's eyes narrowed on the one in orange as he sent a wink to the table. "You're in the military. What base are you from?"

Hyde's eyes slid over the girls quickly, noting the way that both Fez and Kelso were nearly drooling onto the sticky wooden table. For a moment, he thought about allowing them to take the lead, his eyes wandering to a strip of Tina's thigh which had been revealed when she had sat down.

"It's a secret military base," he said off-handedly, unwilling to give the two the chance to chase away a night of beer and vodka. The girl's across the table nearly fell over themselves at the mystery as they nodded, eager to be included in anything that might make the night a bit more dangerous.

Against her thigh, she felt one of Hyde's hands inch up, his calloused fingers scraping along the vulnerable skin there. The curly-haired boy's eyes caught hers, a devilish grin tilting his lips as he caught the warning in that sky-blue gaze.

Deflectively, he asked, "You think your brothers okay?"

Thankfully enough, that line of question actually did distract her from the reverent way that Hyde was running his fingers from the dainty circle of her ankle to the flare of her calf and then all the way up to her knee and the mouth-wateringly soft swell of her thighs.

Her brows furrowed as across the table the two blondes tumbled into Fez and Kelso's laps after a hasty (ridiculously gleeful) round of introductions. It was almost comforting to know that as long as she was in Hyde's lap, the rest of the world seemed to ignore her. The other's hadn't even bothered to pause after Fez had announced that he would be going by Eric Forman for the night, completely skipping over the pair. _Don't bother_ , their singular attention to each other seemed to say.

"He hasn't been the speaking very much since grandma…" Tina's quiet voice faltered, her throat constricting around the word "died." Hyde eyed her, noting the slight look of shocked pain that flashed across her face. The arm around her waist tightened.

"Hey," he murmured, his head tilting so that he could catch her gaze. One of her hands reached up to toy absently with the collar of his shirt. "Didn't she used to call your mom a tramp? Say she wasn't raising you guys right? You and Eric were always bitching about her..."

He didn't need to finish the sentence.

Tina winced, feeling somehow ashamed. It was true. All of it was true. Tina had hated her grandmother because of the nasty way that she tore down her mother. But… Her voice lowered, her eyes not quite meeting Hyde's. "It not her. Its… I want to feel bad, you know? I should be sad. I shouldn't have to watch my dad make these phone calls and think: damn, next Christmas maybe my mom won't end up in the driveway smoking because grandma won't be there to say that the meal that she just spent eight hours on is trash."

Tina stopped, the gnawing feeling in her stomach opening up once more. Because she felt guilty. She hated herself for feeling… _glad_ that her grandmother had died. How fucked up was that? How could she look at her father and _feel_ this way?

Hyde let the silence drag for a moment, his eyes running over the nearly empty bar, the blondes in Fez and Kelso's laps, the drawn anger on Eric's face as he stared at the waitress as she set down their shots and pitcher. And then back up at the beautiful creature sitting in his lap, her eyes miserable and self-loathing.

And then he thought about his mom, the booze on her nightstand and the men in her bed. He thought about her gentle contempt, her distant love, each word of praise pulled from a place that reminded her of her youth. Maybe when he got older, she would be able to stomach the sight of him.

"My mom…" he started slowly, stopping and taking a shot that burning along his tongue. Gulping, he continued. "My mom hates me…" Tina flinched, shaking her head, her mouth opening in a protest as he took another quick shot and gave her a lopsided grin. "Sometimes I think about what I would give to not have to wake up with that reality… And then - and then I think, man, you're one fucked up son. I mean, who _wants_ that? Who wants their own _mother_ to disappear?"

"Hyde," Tina breathed, her fingers curling around his face, turning him to look at her. Their breath mingled, their foreheads almost kissing as her auburn curls slipped forward to create a curtain around them. And Hyde was lost, lost, lost in those beautiful sun-kissed skies that made up her eyes. "You don't mean that. You-"

"I do," he whispered gruffly, his arms curling around her waist. Just wanting to keep her close. Just wanting this moment to last a bit longer. "And so does she. Why would she talk about what her life could have been if it wasn't for my birth, is she didn't want me gone?"

Pain, deep and cutting flashed through Tina's eyes and God, did he fucking love her for it. It took his breath away how much he loved her in that moment. How much he would give to just keep her with him.

"I know that feeling that you have in your stomach right now," he said, his voice earnest as he pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek. "That loathing. You're thinking how could I be feeling this way? And maybe it's shitty. But it's also the things that she gave to you. Because I know you Tina Forman. And I know that even though she was your grandmother and your dad loved her because for eighteen years she was the person who fed him - even though she probably loved him… She didn't love your mom. And maybe she didn't even love her grandkids. Because people like Bernice hate what the world took from them and the only way they can get rid of all that loneliness and rage is to attack the people who they know won't fight back." One of his hands cupped her cheek, his thumb rubbing along her cheekbone. "If you were a little bit more of a bastard like me then you wouldn't be feeling this way."

At that moment, with the smell of vodka still sharp against her lips and that devilish, self-deprecating smirk on his lips, she thought she might love him. Just a little. Just enough to make her half-insane. She would never tell him that though.

"Uh, Hyde?" Tina pulled back, blinking up as the tinkering of glasses and general hubbub of the bar around them filtered back in. The girls had skittered back a step, their eyes on two hulking guys who had just walked in, their shoulders hunched as they glared across the table at where Fez and Kelso were now nervously sitting.

Eric's eyes had snapped up, a daring sort of expression darkening his eyes.

"These ladies are with us," the darker haired of the two men said, for obviously the second time as he turned to Hyde. Tina's eyes narrowed, tightening on the Hyde's shoulders at the condescending glare on his face.

"Uh...cool?" Hyde tried, clearly uninterested in the petty squabble as he glanced toward the two blondes.

"Hyde," Kelso whined, his eyes darting impatiently to where Charlotte was currently standing like a child who had gotten his toy taken away. Beseechingly, his eyes turned to Tina. Emphatically, Kelso widened his eyes, making a variety of obnoxious head bobs and grimaces. Make them stay, his brows seemed to say. You're a girl.

"Don't get her into this," Hyde growled across the table at the lankier one of the group. His eyes snapped as he whipped around to the two men once more. "The ladies came over to our table."

"They're with us." Tina rolled her eyes. Apparently, he was too much a meathead to understand the basic words of eat, sleep and she's with us.

"Hey!" Fez cut in, standing with an almost conspiratorial sort of glee. Sometimes Tina thought that the general tone of a conversation went completely over his head. "Get lost. They are trying to pick us up."

Tina let out a hiss as the brunette's hands clasped down on the foreigner's shoulders, shoving him back into his seat. "I think you've had quite enough of that firewater there, chief."

"You touch him again and I'll cut your hands off," she snarled, her eyes wintery as she turned the full force of her glare on the two men. The two blinked, taken aback for a moment. It was an odd sort of effect that Tina had on people - as if they weren't expecting such an aura of loathing to come from such a small body. The icy depths of her eyes only amplified this, the effect like walking into a freezer when you were expecting to go into the bathroom.

Eric slammed his cup down, his eyes boiling. "Hey, you mess with Eric Forman and you mess with me."

"Oh crap," Hyde grumbled, highly displeased that they were about to get into a fight over two blondes that clearly weren't going to last for more than the night. He let out a sigh as the two men rounded the table, the darker haired on shoving closer to Eric as he let out a snarl.

"Are you looking for trouble?"

Tina knew that look in her brother's eyes. It was the same one that he had gotten when he had launched himself into that dog heap in eighth grade after Hyde had tackled Burt Heidler. It was the same expression that he had gotten when he had seen Donna getting kissed in her driveway when they were ten. It was the expression of someone who knew that they were about to get punched and welcomed it.

"Up, bunny," Hyde sighed, lifting the auburn-haired girl off of his lap as he stood. Gently, he pushed her away from the table. "Stay over there."

Tina bulked. "Hyde-"

"Stay," he said with a finality that made her glare.

"Oh, I'm looking for trouble," Eric said softly, jabbing a finger into the darker haired man's chest, his eyes darkening.

The punch was impressively loud, her twin's head snapping to the side as he went crashing into the table and then to the floor. All three of the boys were up by now, their faces pulled into identical expressions of rage. Snarling, Tina lunged, only to have Hyde push her back as the brunette tore off his jacket. "Anyone else?"

Hyde's shoulders rolled, his arm keeping Tina at bay. "Bunny, stay," he snarled one last time as he rounded on the man. "Well, there's three of us, so _yeah_."

Kelso was across the table in a leap, both Hyde and him landing on the brunette in a heap as his other friend followed, crashing into a nearby table. Tina snarled, her eyes deadly as she turned a venomous stare to the girls nearest the bar. Behind her, she heard a snarl and a snap as Kelso took a hit and Hyde delivered one.

Fez had wandered over to the blondes, his smile cajoling. "So where were we?"

"Take a hike," Tina snarled, grabbing ahold of Fez's collar and dragging him over to where her brother lay.

"We were just-" the blondie in the orange sweater started, flinching away as Tina gave a rabid growl.

"I said _take a hike_." Not many people refused Tina when she used that tone. The blondes were no different. Fez gave a soft whine as he fought against her hold. She readjusted, digging her nail into his ear as she dragged him away.

"Why do you hate me?" he demanded.

A pitcher crashed, someone moaning. Tina's eyes could have been made of ice, her ears pricking as Hyde gave a pained grunt, catching a right hook.

"If you're not going to help them," she snarled, yanking him down to her brother. "Then you get to carry Eric to the car."

Fez's eyes darkened with wariness, his eyes flicking to the pile of men as they fumbled on the ground. "What are you going to do?"

Tina didn't answer, turning instead to the flailing mess of limbs. The brunette had rolled to kneel over Kelso, both men grappling as the Kelso tried to get out from under him and the brunette tried to land a hit that would knock him out. Across the room, Hyde was in a similar position except he was on top.

What most men didn't think about when they were fight was how vulnerable their lower body was. Tina stalked over. Personally, she thought it had more to do with pride than anything else. Luckily girls didn't have any such problems. The brunette gave a scream, his voice cracking as Tina's platforms connected with his nads, his eyes rolling wildly as he slumped to the side.

Beneath him, Kelso blinked, his eyes following him in a way that made Tina think that he actually felt sorry for the guy.

"I had that _completely_ under control," he snapped with enough bravado to make Tina roll her eyes. Already a bruise on his cheek was forming, blood dribbling from a gash on his chin. Across the room, the other man had been able to wrestle Hyde into the wall, both snarling at each other like rabid animals.

"Just go get that behemoth off of Hyde," she replied sharply, turning back to where Fez was trying and failing to lift her brother.

"Don't tell me what to do," he retorted, launching himself at the pair with the eagerness of a puppy seeing its owner.

Fez eyed the auburn-haired girl warily as she breezed over, lifting the remainder of her brother's weight. "You scare me."

Tina didn't flinch, dragging her twin toward the door. "Good."

* * *

_Listen, I just wanted to say that I love you guys. Seriously. Know that even though I've never met you guys and I wouldn't be able to tell who you were if I walked past you, everyone who's out there and reads my stories - you guys matter to me. The reason why I made this story is because I wanted to share and everything since than has completely been you guys. I remember when I only had 20 followers and 2 reviews. And it just makes me happy._

_Anyway, I know things are crazy but you guys are smart and strong and I know it may seem overwhelming right now but you guys have this community and all these writers at your fingertips. We're all in this together - whether you're in California with me or across the world in Italy. We'll make it out of this. It's going to sting and hurt and some things will never be the same but we'll make it._


	23. I Love You Enough to Hurt You

_A/N: Okay! Good to be here for another chapter and I want to thank everyone for your reviews. You guys are way too good for me._

_A little shameless self-promotion because who else will: Check out my other stories particularly my The Stranger Sort one. That one is most like this one in terms of POV._

* * *

Bernice Forman's funeral was quiet and filled with so many flowers that she more than likely would have wheeled in a trash bin and started disposing of them. Bernice Forman was not a flower person. She didn't like the smell and she certainly didn't like how they turned sickly whenever she smoked around them. While Tina's father understood this fact, her uncle had insisted until there was nothing left to do but punch him or concede. Red considered it his final courtesy to his mother that he refrained from the first.

"You look _happy_ ," her sister sneered, spearing a piece of asparagus with accuracy that menacing in and of itself.

Across the kitchen, still making the lattice for tonight's rhubarb pie, Kitty eyed her children in concern. Things had been… off since the death of Bernice. Eric had grown sullen, his eyes roaming over his twin in a way that confused Kitty - like he didn't quite know who he was looking at. For her part, Tina seemed oblivious, her attention always somewhere else. And then… Well, Laurie was still Laurie. A bitch. Kitty gave a high laugh.

Tina took a breath, scarfing down another bite of roasted chicken as she mentally prepared herself for the battle to come. She had forgotten how draining it was to constantly have her sister slinking around the house. Her eyes moved lazily over the glossed lips and the skimpy top. Another night at some club downtown. "Who are you going to take your clothes off for tonight, _big sis_?"

Tina glanced to her brother, reaching out on instinct for a high five under the table. Both of them delighted in riling Laurie. But her fingers met open air, his face turned away as he stared out the glass window. Her fingers grasped for a moment, floundering.

Laurie's fingers curled around the fork in her hand, her knuckles going white as she sent a wilting glare across the table. "Bitch."

Tina whipped around, off-balanced. "Slut."

"Girls," Kitty admonished, breezing to the table with some mashed potatoes just as Red came slid in through the porch door.

"How are my two little girls doing?" he boomed, wiping some motor oil from his hands. At Kitty's sharp glance he retreated to the sink to wash them properly.

"Fine, daddy," Tina and Laurie chirped, glaring at each other as they stabbed at their food.

More than anything, even her sister's general bitchiness, the truly unsettling thing was her twin's sudden silences. A knot wound tighter and tighter around her lunges, cinching down until it felt both cutting and suffocating. It hurt her, she realized, glancing at his dull eyes, his lips tight. At first, she had thought that maybe after Bernice's death something had clicked off inside of him, some odd guilt keeping him tethered in that horrible moment when he had had to drive her corpse back to the house. But the more silence, the more evenings where she stepped into the living room only to have him get up and leave…

"May I be excused?" Tina stared forlornly after her brother as he barely waited for the returned acceptance before he was up, dumping his plate in the sink before slinking off to the basement.

Her insides burst painfully. There was a distance there - she could feel it gaping open between them. And she hated it. Worse, she didn't even understand why there was a distance in the first place.

"Why, he didn't even eat his lunch," Kitty murmured. She took the general lack of interest in her cooking as a sign of illness, both emotional and physical.

Red's eyes wandered over the political section of the day's newspaper. "He's probably watching his figure. You know how finicky he is about his looks."

Kitty's eyes rolled. "Just because he takes a shower every day and wears clean clothes doesn't mean he's narcissistic, Red."

"When I was his age-" Red started, straightening his paper with a snap.

"You ran around in your dirty tighty-whiteys and didn't brush your teeth?" As if to punctuate the end to the argument, she let out a long, loud laugh, one hand going to the mashed potatoes laddle as she smiled sweetly at her husband. "More potatoes, darling?"

Laurie's eyes were catlike as she eyed her sister, taking in the sunken, helpless look as she stared after where their brother had disappeared to the basement. She knew the expression well. It was usually the one that people had right before she said something so cutting that they didn't come back to school for a month. A slow, satisfied smile spread across her lips.

Daintily, she batted her eyes, softening her expression into one of innocent inquiry. "Do you know something, Tina?"

Three pairs of eyes snapped to the auburn-haired girl, pinning her with silent questions. Questions that she couldn't answer. Stiffly, she met her sister's gaze. "No. Why would you think that?"

The doleful bat of Laurie's eyes was enough to make Tina want to barf. "Well, I only assumed since you two _are twins_. You practically do _everything_ together. You two were so _close…_ "

A slow knife jabbed into her abdomen, turning, turning, turning until Tina could barely think from the pain. Yes. They _were_ close. They told each other everything. Tina would do anything for Eric and she knew that he would do anything for her. And now he wasn't even speaking to her - wouldn't even look at her. Laurie's words flayed her, rubbing salt into the raw wounds.

Laurie's smile had grown positively delighted.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Tina whispered, forcing the words out and feeling like a failure. Those words were nothing more than a white flag to her sister. Now she knew where to strike. Tina winced, clutching at her napkin. At least, she still didn't know about Hyde. If she ever found out then there was no way that their father would allow him anywhere near her.

Laurie's bottom lip pushed out in a cringe-worthy pout, her eyes moving to between their parents and then back to Tina. For a moment, Tina actually felt a bolt of fear jolt through her system, something that hadn't happened to her since her older sister had caught Laurie shagging their biology teacher in the garage. There was an uncanny ability that her sister had - one that Tina didn't know if she should admire or fear. The ability to see vulnerability, the weakening of a predator that could turn them into prey in a moment.

She could see it now in the gentle tip of her sister's lips, the softening of her blue eyes that gave away that the hunt was drawing to an end. Tina braced, her insides aching as the cheap cutlery cut into her palms.

"It's so _sad_ ," Laurie simpered and Kitty blinked in alarm as Tina flinched, paling. "I remember when you two were little - so close. It just makes me so unhappy to see you two like this. I mean he can barely _look_ at you now. You were the first that he told about his crush on Donna, right? Ugh. I mean, he's been kind of avoiding you right? _Poor thing_. You must have done something really, really horrible-"

"Laurie, I think that's enough." Laurie blinked. Kitty stilled, a rebuke on the tip of her tongue as she watched her youngest daughter sink further and further into herself.

Red made it a rule not to get in the middle of his two daughters. They were rabid, feral in a way that he was entirely sure that they got from him. They were too ready to rip into a carcass, too able to take down larger prey without breaking much of a sweat. This ferocity both made him swell with pride and wither with terror at the creatures that he had cultivated beneath his roof.

So when it was his voice snapping across the table to halt Laurie's blatant attack, the three women jolted, blinking.

Laurie's mouth hung open, her cheeks going an unflattering shade of pink. Tina felt a pop of joy at the expression. It was so rare to find her sister flustered by anything.

"Sorry, daddy," the blonde girl murmured, her eyes darting to her barely eaten plate of chicken. An odd well of shame splashed uncomfortable up at her. Like it or not, Laurie Forman would forever be a daddy's girl and no amount of meaningless one night stands and venomous spite would wink that part of her out of existence.

Tina grabbed up her dish, her insides shaking as she eyed the basement door just around the bend of the kitchen. She couldn't keep this distance anymore. She needed to talk to her brother before the silence between them became something bigger - something filled with bitterness. She couldn't bear to lose another sibling to hatred. It took too much away.

"Thank you for the meal," she murmured hastily, giving her father a reverent kiss on the cheek and her sister the middle finger as she skirted her way around the table, placing her dishes in the sink and scuttling for the basement door.

"I wonder what that's all about," Kitty whispered, her eyes rapt for a moment on the retreating form of her youngest daughter. When Kitty had given birth to twins, she had been overjoyed. She loved the idea of dressing them up in matching outfits with bows and all. And even if Red had complained that Eric looked like a snot-nosed wimp, she knew that he adored it as well. Her babies clung to each other like two parts of the same vehicle, synching in a way that was completely independent of one another.

To see that quiet order suddenly crumble was disturbing, to say the least.

"Maybe she-" Laurie started, her voice already edging into snideness.

"Can it, Laurie," Kitty snapped, her eyes still lingering on the basement door.

The soft trill of a disco song filtered up to Tina as she made her way unsteadily down the rickety basement stairs. It seemed to grow more and more treacherous the longer that the wooden steps remained. Tina's father had spoken on more than one occasion about tearing the lot out and constructing something new. But everyone in the Forman household knew that while Red was handy, he wasn't tear-out-stairs-that-are-connected-to-load-bearing-wall handy.

Anxiety gnawed at whatever part of her organs wasn't already tied up as she wobbled down the rest of the stairs and came to a halt at the base, staring at where her twin was slouched on the couch. On the TV, Disco Fever blared, neon signs illuminating a stuffy looking dance studio.

Tina was never good with silence. "Are you going to talk to me or just keep ignoring me?" she blurted, noting that her voice was edged with agitation.

Slowly, Eric's head turned, one eye-catching her in a solemn stare. Tina winced. Her brother rarely let his anger show - and when it did, it was usually a diluted version like a puppy's first bark. It seemed like the venom had completely gone to the Forman daughter's, leaving their mother's mild manners to Eric.

"I'm surprised that you're even bringing the issue up to me," he drawled, turning back to the TV with a blank expression. "These days it seems like your busy doing your own thing."

Tina's brain spun, whipping around Eric's words. Angrily, she stormed over, turning the TV off before spinning back to glare down at her brother. "What the hell does that mean?"

There was that blank stare again, that single-shouldered shrug. Tina's teeth ground. It drove her up the wall.

"It means exactly what it sounds like," he replied, his shaggy mess of brown hair falling into his eyes.

"It means exactly what it sounds like," Tina parroted back to him childishly. "If you're not going to tell me what your mad about than how about you save us both some trouble and stop being such a spoiled brat? We may be twins but I can certainly tell you that I can't read whatever pea-brained part of your brain is working right now, you dweeb."

Red bit across Eric's cheeks, his lips thinning. He had fought with his sister before over trivial things like showering first or whether he had flushed the toilet or not. But this was different. This time he felt something ugly and mad twisting in his gut as he stared at his auburn-haired twin. In no way, did he enjoy it but almost against his will, he found himself submitting to it like a dog forced to sit.

"Okay," he said slowly, savoring the next words that he said, the rush of raw release that it gave him to finally speak after having to watch his sister and his best friend pet at each other, fawning and whispering. "Maybe this will help you figure out what's going on: you and Hyde."

Tina blinked, flinching back. She hadn't expected that. Her stomach dropped at the cold expression on his brother's face. Fumbling, she said, "I don't - I thought-"

"That I would be overjoyed to see my twin shagging my best friend?" he said, his blue eyes going a wintery shade that would have rivaled his sister's. Against the couch, his lanky body coiled tighter, his shoulders hunching. "If you haven't noticed, the world doesn't revolve around your happiness, Tina. Why would I _ever_ think that this was a good idea?"

"I-" Tina felt an unsteady rush of warmth burn her cheeks. Somehow this rebuke felt worse than any other insult that could have been thrown at her. It had never crossed her mind that he would… "I thought… You always made jokes about us… You like Steven."

His lips tightened, the color bleeding away. "Yeah. I do."

Memories flitted through his mind. Everyone knew that Hyde liked Tina and maybe somewhere in the back of his mind he had registered that she liked him back. But there was a wildness in her that made it so hard for him to see her submitting to his best friends advances. Because that was how it had always been. There was Hyde and then there was his sister - the one who had punched Hyde when he had tried to grab her ass that first time. The one who had ripped out an article from a magazine titled Why Douchbags Never Win and plastered it on his locker. The one who flirted but never crossed that line. The one that was going places while Hyde…

"I'm not saying this as his friend, Tina," he finally whispered, staring at a spot just above her shoulder. "I'm saying it as your brother. Hyde's not a good fit for you. You're… If anyone's getting out of here, it's you. I know Donna thinks it'll be her but… Listen, you have so much more than this place in your future. And Hyde - Hyde will always be here - in Wisconsin."

Pain, sudden and blinding twisted through her. Because there was always that fear, niggling at her. The fear of what came after high school when the real world started to knock. Somehow… She had never thought to think past tomorrow or that shift at the hub in a couple of days.

Unsteady, Tina fumbled for something to say. "Hyde is - Hyde isn't just temporary-"

"That's what I'm afraid of," he said with a finality that made her heart twist. His eyes were sad, analyzing as they ran over her. "It's not just about that, Tina. I thought… I mean that night at the Hub, he just left. That isn't the first fight that you guys will ever have and his first instinct was to just get on the back of some girl's moped and _dip_? What the hell _is that_?"

Tina winced, fighting against a current of inner fears. Because at night after Hyde had left, when her thoughts were the only thing keeping her company she had thought about that. In the dark, it all seemed so consuming, larger than life. But then morning came and the sun cleansed her of those insecurities. Because Hyde was with her.

Hot, reflexive tears burned at her eyes, blurring her brother's stiff figure. "Why the hell are you being such an ass?"

Eric flinched.

Yeah. He was being an ass.

But he couldn't bear it. Couldn't bear seeing his sister with someone like Hyde. Because even though he loved the guy, he had also seen how many girls had slipped in and out of his spell these last years. Just as he was able to name off all of the reasons that Hyde was his best friend, he was also able to name off all of the reasons that his sister would get her heart broken by him. Hot-tempered. Spiteful. Bitter to his very core and boiling over with so much anger that sometimes Eric could hear the undertone of hate in his voice. How could Eric be okay with his little sister going out with a guy that got into a fight every single week? A guy who stole every time he could? A guy who barely had a home to go back to on the good days?

And just as he would list off all the reasons that Hyde was bad for her, he would do the same for Tina. Blunt. Stubborn. Suspicious. Easy angered. Too willing to give people a second chance after they had earned her trust. Guys like Hyde would use her and throw her away like last week's trash.

"You'll do what you want," Eric finally said, looking away from his sister's trembling form. "But if dad finds out about this then you know what will happen."

Tina's breath whistled out of her. "Are you threatening me?"

Eric grimaced. He would never out her. "No. But I am trying to make you realize that maybe a relationship based in secrecy isn't the way to go."

There was a finality to that statement. A simple, mocking prod. Tina had gone down this road before. The road of secrecy. She had nearly lost Hyde to it. What would she lose this time, she wondered.

A humorless laugh burst from Tina's trembling lips. Eric's head whipped around to stare at her, a strike of fear bolting across his face at her shaking, cruel curve of a smile. Slowly, tears tracked down her cheeks, smearing the mascara on her lashes.

"I wish that you had just been my brother instead of whatever fuckwad is sitting in front of me right now," she hissed, all the venom and bitter sadness bursting across Eric's veins like the poison of a serpent.

The clodding of her platforms across the room and up the stairs was a sharp exclamation to her words, filling Eric's head like gunshots.

Numbness settled across Eric along with a jumble of disjointed thoughts. _I am your brother and that's why I can't watch you ruin yourself for a guy that thinks the government put chips in us when we were born. I love you enough to hurt you. But I didn't want to. God, why couldn't I be good with words? Don't go out with Hyde. Don't do that to yourself. Or the group. Why am I ever worried about the gang? What happens when they break up? Will I have to choose between my sister and my best friend?_

Selfish. He knew it. He was a worm. And the worst part was that he had made her cry. Only people that she cared about could do that to her.

Listlessly, he stared at the black of his TV screen, the basement around him growing darker and colder as the hours burned past.

* * *

_I hope everyone's keeping safe and sanitized. And reading a shit-ton of books._

_Again a little shameless self-promotion because who else will: Check out my other stories particularly my The Stranger Sort one. That one is most like this one in terms of POV._


	24. Halloween is for Schmucks

_A/N: Okay, don't hate me too much but I have a massive headache right now so I'm going to opt-out of responses today in favor of getting this published tonight and also going and getting some headache medicine. I'll try and get this next chapter out quickly so that I can go through reviews and actually answer them faster. (Since I have so many active stories, I usually try to go in a sort of order so that I can update evenly but since I feel like a horrible writer for not messaging you guys, Imma bout to knock this shit out for you) Just know I love all of you and I read your reviews with the fervor of a crazed person._

_Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to force myself into a coma. Good night._

* * *

The Forman household didn't participate in the tradition of scary stories. Red Forman had seen enough horrors in the pits to put the terror of serial killers and ghosts safely into the realm of fantasy. As for Kitty… Well, Tina had once seen her mother scream when faced with a row of plastic bats.

Still, even though the essence of Halloween seemed to be lost on Kitty there was always an effort put into family events that she devoted to every holiday. Christmas was filled with snowflakes and hot chocolate. Thanksgiving had turkey, ham, and yams. And Halloween had pumpkins and ghoul stickers on the sliding glass door.

"Mom, you can't possibly think that this is a good idea." Tina raised a mini box of raisins from one of the plastic cauldron lining the kitchen counters. Laurie had long-since shunned all events that brought her into contact with anything other than a man's wallet and Eric had decided that he was too cool for their mother's antics around middle school. This left Tina to fill the mantel of co-conspirator in their mother's love of all things schmaltzy.

That was why she had traded in her usual array of yellows, greens, and purples for a black skirt and shirt with some knee-highs and platforms. Add in a stiff, wire tail and some cat ears and she was the perfect familiar to her mother's witch.

"They'll appreciate it when they have cavities this summer," Kitty declared defiantly, popping a knife through the top of a large pumpkin. The whole house had an earthy, sweet smell, the result only bolstered by the bowl of pumpkin guts and seeds that were sitting beside Kitty in a neat heap. She could only imagine the hours of picking that it would take to divide up the seeds to roast.

Tina adjusted her cat ears once more, forcing the black band back into the wild mess once more as it continued to slip further and further down her brow. Downstairs she could hear the roar of laughter along with the soft exclamation of Scooby-Doo as the gang ran into another ghost. Almost against her will, her ear pricked, searching out the familiar whine of her brother's laugh. Tina had been avoiding him for the past week, picking up all the shifts that she could at the Hubb. The significant drawback to this plan of attack was obvious: Hyde.

Most days he wandered in alone, reading a magazine in one of the booths or sitting on her counter in a way that made no one want to come up and ask for anything. It was pleasant but not at all preferable. A low sort of tension had formed from this. One that was unspoken but still very much present. She could all but feel the silent questions rolling off of Hyde. _Why are you working do much? Are you trying to avoid me? When are we going to have time just for us?_

Just thinking about it made Tina's stomach roll, her hands tightening on the raisin boxes heaped inside of the cauldron. She knew all too well what would happen if she told Hyde about what Eric had said. And maybe a little part of her wanted to see Hyde beat the shit out of him. But an even bigger part knew that having to hear that his best friend thought he didn't deserve his sister… Tina wasn't willing to see that kind of pain inflicted on Hyde.

So she had kept quiet, making herself busier and busier until no one was really even able to ask her more than the basics.

"Hey, mom, Fez wants us to take him trick-or-treating and-" It was too late to scramble away. Slowly, Tina turned, placing herself defensively in the corner of the kitchen cabinets as her Tina leapt up the final stairs and into the kitchen. His eyes caught on her immediately, widening before falling away guiltily. _Good_ , Tina thought, crossing her arms tightly across her middle. _He should feel bad._

For his part, Eric had been avoiding his sister with the same single-mindedness. In school, he didn't go to pick her up between classes. At lunch, he locked himself in the bathroom stalls and stared dejectedly at the graffitied walls, unable to eat while Fat Ed took a dump in the stall beside him. With both of them working so hard at the endeavor, it had become a rather easy goal.

The only issue was… Hyde. Eric gulped, scratching at his neck as he felt a prickle of shame and nausea run through his stomach. He couldn't look at him, couldn't speak to him without wanting to bash his own head off of the nearest sharp surface. Hyde could sense it - Eric had been around him long enough to realize that his friend had ridiculously sharp senses for the unspoken. But luckily enough, they were both guys and so they fumbled through limited exchanges talking about nothing at all.

But having to look his sister in the eyes… That made him feel… Like the biggest, sleaziest, most pathetic piece of trash this side of Wisconsin.

Eric's eyes twitched to the side, his adam's apple bobbing. "Oh, uh, hi - hi, Tina… I didn't think… Aren't you supposed to be…"

The sentence wandered off, slipping into a twitchy, jittery mess of random eye motions and shuffling from foot to foot. Tina's tongue probed at her cheek, her irritation rising. She hated seeing her brother like that and somehow the fact that she still cared that he looked miserable made her even angrier. But she was a bit too petty to let him off the hook just yet.

"Coooooolllll," Eric said, apparently to the ceiling since all that Tina could now see was the underside of his chin and his entire, gangly neck.

"Well, you're a Mister Awkward Pants tonight, aren't you?" Kitty laughed, her eyes crinkling as she placed a lit candle inside of the pumpkin and hustled out of the door with it. Tina could see that black tip of her witch's hat bobbing back and forth as she moved the bail of hay this way and that, rearranging the decorations.

Eric's eyes darted to the sliding glass door and then back to his twin sister. "Are you… how are thing's going?"

Tina's eyes cooled to sub-zero frost, her mouth curving down sharply. For a moment, she didn't answer, a bit too annoyed to even think up an accurate response. Still, she couldn't help the biting response that leapt from the tip of her tongue like a viper striking. "Wow. I forgot what a wimp you were."

Eric's lips thinned, his eyes darting to somewhere just over Tina's shoulder as he shoved his hands into his pockets. His adam's apple bobbed uncomfortably for a moment. "Soooo… not well."

Tina's eyes narrowed. "Since my brother shit all over my relationship and simultaneously called his best friend a loser? No. Not well."

Eric's eyes narrowed as well, squinting into whatever dark hole had formed beside Tina's ear. Again his adam's apple gave an uncomfortable bob as he worked over whatever land mines were forming in his head.

In all honest, Eric Forman was going throw a subconscious war zone. Because while he wished that he didn't think his sister was making a terrible mistake he also couldn't stop the instinct - His eyes finally met hers. Because his sister could be with whoever she wanted. She could be with the star football player or an actor in Hollywood or hell, even the freakin' president if she wanted to. She had always been the smart one. The driven one.

And Eric had seen what Hyde had done to other girls. It was always the broken ones that knew how to tear a nice girl up and even though Tina wasn't inherently nice, Eric knew that when she trusted, she trusted hard. Loyal until the end. And that was why it made his gut twist whenever he thought about the last girl that Hyde had decided to pin down and try out for more than a week. One of the nicest girls in school. She went to church and dressed nice and talked softly.

The last time Eric had seen her she had been sobbing, talking to him about how Hyde was going to ruin himself. How he needed help and his mom wasn't treating him right and why wouldn't he answer her calls? It made his heart clench just thinking about it. Thinking about how she had been nice right until the end. How she had wanted to know how Steven was doing even past the point of no return.

And how he hadn't even told the gang that he had been dating her. Hadn't even looked her way in the school halls even before their breakup.

"What do you want me to say, Tina?" he finally whispered, his hair slipping into his face as his gaze slipped to his sister's black platforms. His mouth was dry, an odd tightening making him feel sick. "You want me to lie? I don't think that this is a good idea." _Because all I can think about is that girl and how much she cared about him. And how much I can see that you care about him right now._

Tina's expression soured further. "I don't want anything from you, Eric," she finally said, unwilling to let him know how much his silence killed her.

The gentle hum of their mother drifted in through the cracked sliding glass door. The air was heavy with unspoken words. But more than that there was an ache that hung over the two like a second skin. Because they had been together since birth. When Eric had fallen, Tina was there to cry with him. When Donna had gotten her first boyfriend, Eric had come to Tina to vent. There was a rightness to every heartbreak and joy that came to the twins - a shared understanding that came with being born together.

And it hurt both of them equally to suddenly feel this tear - like a space that had once been filled suddenly becoming empty.

"Do you… Do you want to come with us?" Eric started, sliding over the invitation with a sad awkwardness that was as much an offering as a plea.

Tina knew it for what it was. Not an apology but an olive branch. She looked away, staring hard at the living room door. "That depends. Hyde will be there. How are you going to act since you apparently despise seeing us together?"

"That's not… It's not like that…" Eric winced, rubbing at his neck roughly. Like if he scraped away the skin there that he would be able to make her see his point and not hate him for it. "Look - I'm your brother. And while I don't think… I know that both of you are the best people ever, okay? I would never… It's hard to explain."

"For you," Tina finished for him, looking into the sad, chocolate depths of her brother's eyes. What he had said about Hyde was vile and unforgivable… But he was still her twin and she knew how awful he was at expressing his thoughts. For now, she would let it lie. "Fez needs someone that's going to be as dressed up as he is anyway."

* * *

"TRICK OR TREAT!" Tina and Fez screamed, grinning into the open hallway of the Millner's house. The pair (after a brief period of fumbling and awkward staring) had been able to completely sync into one cohesive candy-finding unit. While Fez was clearly in high school or perhaps college at certain angles, Tina was short enough that at a glance she seemed younger. Not to mention that her candy grin was a hundred watts and convincing enough that even the most hardened adults crumbled.

This was also why Fez had insisted that they continuously switch each other's bags so they would get an even haul since the houses seemed to regularly dump more candy into Tina's bag.

Neither was ashamed. Not when they got funny looks and not when they passed whining children on their walk down the richer house complex of Point Place. Personally, Tina thought that there was no age limit on candy and Fez was too excited to even think upon the social consequences of being seen dressed up as batman running around begging for sweets.

"Does your sister usually go trick or treating?" she heard Donna say as she riffled through the content of her bag, making her way back down the driveway and to where her friends waited.

Obviously they were too cool for Halloween.

The auburn-haired girl dragged out a watermelon lollipop.

"She stopped a year or two ago when Hyde started to walk around with her," Eric said, watching in mild embarrassment as his sister pushed back her cat ears once more, her face flushed with childlike excitement. She definitely got that from their mother.

"He scared off all of the good Halloween treats," Tina admonished as the curly-haired boy rolled his eyes, taking the overflowing sack of candy from her hands. "He would come along and glare at people over my shoulders and they would only give me a piece or two instead of a handful."

"Lot of thanks that is for me making sure you don't get kidnapped," Hyde grumbled, his eyes drifting to the cute little way that the velcro tail cinched around Tina's waist and the way that her black skirt ended just below her butt. Yeah. Someone definitely would have tried to pick her up.

Fez popped his head from his candy pillowcase, inching toward Tina with a pleading look and a handful of fruit stripe gum. "Trade for Sugar Babies?"

"No," Hyde said automatically, tossing the sack over his shoulder as he kept an even stride beside Tina. Eric and Donna stuck to the back; Kelso and Jackie bickering somewhere up ahead.

Tina frowned up at him. "It's my candy."

Hyde's eyes slid to the side, catching her gaze from the side of his sunglasses. Even though the streets were dark - only lit by streetlamps and the swift flash of children's glowsticks - his shades were light enough that he wasn't blind. "I like Sugar Babies."

A cheeky grin curled her lips and for a moment Hyde thought about how that expression would taste on his lips. "Ask nicely."

"Pppplllllleeeeeeaaaaassssseeee, Twina Fworman," Donna chortled from behind them and Eric gave an appreciative snicker.

Up ahead, Kelso turned, walking backward. "WHIPPED!"

Hyde's expression sunk, his jaw hardening. "I don't beg. I'm not some lapdog." Tina blinked up at him, waiting. _One Mississippi… two Mississippi… three_ \- He tipped closer, his lips nearly brushing her ear as he whispered just for her. "Please, doll."

Tina grinned, turning back to Fez immediately. "Sorry, Fez. Peanut butter brittle?"

"I hate peanuts…" he said pitifully, sighing into his gaping bag.

"WHIPPED!" Steven crowed gleefully.

* * *

What remained of the old Point Place Grammar School was a husk - the perfect haunt for people who wanted to roam around abandoned rooms with spray cans and weed. The place had been situated in a pretty remote place, to begin with, but since the fire burned down a lot of the left-wing, it had been completely discarded. The surrounding terrain was overgrown with shrubs and grass and the trees had grown from their well-tended rows.

The Grammar School was one of the few scary stories that had cropped up in Point Place. It was also a must for any teen that wanted a little more zeal in the monotony of Halloween.

Which was precisely why Tina found herself slipping through a window and into the deserted halls right in front of one Steven Hyde and right behind Donna Pinciotti.

"You know, I'm not really feeling this whole ghost story vibe right now," Kelso breathed, his eyes wide and terrified as they roamed around the graffitied walls. The whole place smelled like mold and burnt carpet, the walls charred from the fire years before.

Eric rolled his eyes peeking into a room to the right, Donna just behind him. Fez had found a corner to riffle once more through the content of his bag.

"You know, if you get scared, you can wrap yourself around me," Hyde said casually, flicking the flashlight in his hands around the space in a nonchalant examination. Tina's lips twitched, her eyes running over the broad expanse of his shoulders beneath the flannel he wore on top of his white shirt. He had long since surrendered his jacket to her once the night had become chillier.

In fact, at that moment, she looked more like a mini-Hyde, collecting articles of his across the night: his jacket at first and then his switchblade when he had stuffed it into her boot after some guy had made a pass at her and then finally his glasses when they had gone to see a slasher movie and instead decided to curl into his side and take a nap.

He could have mauled her right there, he realized, taking in the cute droop of that cat ears on her head, the way her eyes shone at him through his shades.

Tina let out a happy sigh as one of his hands drifted to her waist, tugging her closer by the base of her wire tail. Softly, she heard her bag of candy hit the floor before her chest met his, his body curling around her. His lips were almost touching hers, his warm breath steaming along her own as his hands worked along the belt of her tail, tugging it, drifting a hand down until he could feel them resting along the top curve of her ass.

Her breath caught, her attention all at once sharpening as, not for the first time, she remembered how large his hands actually were, how much bigger than her he was. Steven Hyde's hands were not a boys - no, they held the callouses and strength of a man's. And right then they were tugging her close enough that his body pressed fully to hers.

His eyes burned into hers, hot and heady in the dim light. "I'm not scared," she breathed, her fingers working into the soft material at his chest.

"Well, that makes one of us," he whispered, leaning down further so that his lips caught hers for a moment, his fingers tightening into the curve of her butt as he drew her up onto her toes. His voice held a thin line of agony. "You're driving me crazy in this outfit, doll."

Tina's next words were unsteady, a low ache starting in her gut as she felt her nipple prickle with arousal. "And that makes you scared?"

"Scared of what you could make me do right now." He groaned, his eyes snapping a dark blue as he caught her bottom lip in a bite, one hand staying at her rump and the other sliding up her back to tug her hair in a harsh request for access.

Tina granted it, willingly, eagerly. Hyde took her lips in a hungry kiss, his tongue thrusting inside as if he was starving and she had finally given him something to eat. Moaning softly, she gave in to the urge to run her fingers through the sexy mess of his hair, getting a thrill of excitement at his low growl. The bit of stubble scraped along her face as his lips slanted, the fingers in her hair move lower, cradling the back of her throat, his thumb dragging her chin down so that he can get a better taste of her. And damn, but she tastes like honey and something else - something that makes his mouth water.

And all at once, Hyde is rabid again, his fingers biting down into Tina's rump as he effortlessly turns her so that she can feel the cool of the school walls against her back. A low sound drifts from her lips to his as he readjusts his hold, his fingers tangling in her hair, forcing her to arch against him.

"Sch - school," Tina gasps as Hyde finally pulls away, his lips kissing along her jaw until he bites down on her neck, making her squeak. And then all at once, he's contrite, licking away the pain and making Tina catch fire. She loves the rough side of him, the side that gives way to sweetness every once in a while - only to people he trusts. "The others-"

"Not going to take you here," he whispers, his voice low and guttural against her neck. Tina's head goes fuzzy as his fingers tug at her hair, releasing it so that he can cup her breast through the thin material of her shirt. The soft cotton is suddenly unbearably abrasive against Tina's hardened nipples, her skin tingling as he simply kneads the underside, rubbing maddening circles but never grazing where she most wants it. "Wouldn't dream of taking you in some shithole like this."

But his eyes are heavy and his hands are still keeping her pressed against his front. For a moment, she can feel the words tingling along her throat, crawling forward. _We can go back to my house._ Tina's lips part.

"Hey, guys you won't believe what we fou - WOAH!" Donna's words stutter off, the scramble of her sneakers backtracking out of the room. "Oh my god. I'm sorry."

All at once, the bubble is broken, Tina's heart leaping into her throat as she blushes. Against her, Hyde curses, his fingers tightening, making her whimper as a spike of arousal bursts through her at the gentle squeeze of his hands on her breast, the other digging into her butt cheek.

His head tilts to the side, his eyes catching hers for one hot moment. "Don't make that noise."

Mind muddy, Tina flounders for a response. "Wha - what - why?"

His brows furrow, his expression both pained and feral as his eyes drift to her lips. "It makes me want to hear you make it again. And that could only mean one thing."

He doesn't have to explain. Heat rolls through her with the force of a wildfire.

"We should go," he says, his voice low and gravelly. "Before Kelso decides to come in and treat us like a strip show."

At that moment, she contemplates dragging him through the window once more, begging him to kiss her again. But already she can hear the hurried steps of one Michael Kelso, a gleeful note ringing through the vacant halls of the Grammar School.


	25. Halloween

_Okay, I have a really important announcement. A nerve-wracking one. A lot of people have asked me about doing writing tips and I've never really been receptive to it because this is fanfiction and I know that this is someone else's work. However, I do have original works and so, I went for it. I launched my own **patreon** under **mylovelylions** which will feature character sketches, updates, original works and fanfiction side stories/updates etc. If you guys want to you can support me over there. I do spend a massive amount of time writing and editing and also plotting these stories and I just thought... why not if I have the original work to back it up?_

_Thank you and I love you guys,_

_Lovely_

* * *

Before Hyde became more than a boy to Tina Forman, before Laurie less than a sister, and even before Eric stopped holding her hand, the auburn-haired girl wanted many things. That was a constant in her life: the urge to want things. She wanted her sister's blonde hair. She wanted the boys in her class to talk to her with the same reverence and softness that they gave sweet girls like Stacy Burnman who had freckles and curls. She wanted to be softer, to speak just enough that others wanted more like a drop of honey in tea.

As she stared down at the stack of dilapidated records that Donna and Jackie had found somewhere in the burned heap of Point Place Grammar School, she wondered if those wishes were put down in there.

More than likely it just included that one time that she had kicked Jenna Mechade with the heel of her boot when she had refused to get off the monkey bars. Blood usually was a lot more visible than thoughts.

"Wow," Kelso breathed, his eyes large as he squatted down beside the table that the papers were piled onto. Beside her, Eric shifted, his eyes sliding to meet hers. Whatever bad blood they had, there was no denying their shared past. And from the age of zero to twelve they had been almost inseparable. And our past… well, we hadn't been the coolest. "Our permanent records. Oh, you know what? They must have left these here after the school burned down."

"Yeah," Tina sighed sarcastically, her eyes drifting over the printed names. "That would kind of make sense since they're still here… in the burned down school…"

Hyde's lips twitched up, his eyes crinkling as he slipped a hand to her waist. Oblivious, Kelso's hands drifted over the file at the top of the stack, flicking it open. Immediately, Hyde's eyes zeroed in on the action, a shark sensing blood in the water.

"Pinciotti, Donna," he drawled, his eyes lighting with mischief as the redhead's eyes narrowed. "Looks like someone we know had a problem keeping their clothes on in kindergarten."

Blushing, Donna's hand snapped the file away from the table, her eyes widening. "What?" Briefly, her gaze zoomed across the papers, her mouth curving further and further down before she slammed it shut. "It was just a stupid phase."

"A stupid phase of sexually harassing everyone in your class," Tina teased, earning a fake laugh and a slap from the other girl as she passed by.

Across the room, Jackie and Fez had hiked themselves up onto one of the still-standing desks, each half-heartedly listening to the exchange as they rifled through his bag of candy.

"I'm sure glad that's over," Eric muttered sarcastically, his eyes rolling.

Hyde sighed, grabbing a desk and dragging it over beside Fez before setting down Tina's bag and lifting her onto it. Unwanted butterflies burst through her stomach, heating her as he sighed, resting himself against the side as he watched the Eric and Kelso go through the files.

"Don't want to see your file?" Tina probed, sliding a bit closer as he tipped his head to the side, a few curls falling into his eyes.

His teeth flashed in a chagrinned smile. "And hear about how I'm a bad little boy who needs a good ass-kicking?" His nose wrinkled as he drifted close enough to kiss. "Nah. I'm good."

"Oh listen to this," Kelso suddenly called, standing with an open file. His smile was shit-eating, the expression only growing as he turned toward where Tina and Hyde were. "I fear that despite Steven's high I.Q.-" Against Tina's side, she felt the subtle tensing of Hyde's muscles, his eyes going attentive as they focused on Michael. "He's a born trouble maker and is destined to be the smartest man…" A small grin flitted across Hyde's face a moment before the expression slipped into anger. "In his cell block."

Tina's stomach rolled, her hands clenching into the material of Hyde's jacket. Briefly, a painful image of a smaller, more vulnerable Hyde drifted across her mind. He had seemed softer in kindergarten - more willing to smile or offer compliments. Sure, none of those things had ever been directed at her but she had seen it - those rare times when Hyde had had a crush. It made her want to simultaneously hug him and punch his lights out.

"What?" He snarled, ripping the file out of Kelso's hands. "They couldn't have known that in second grade."

Hyde's curly head bent over the paper and for a sickening moment, Tina felt a thrill of unease. Across the room, Eric's eyes caught hers, widening. What did that- _Oooohhh_. Tina winced. _Oh no._

"Steven willfully and maliciously destroyed Christine del Beuno's shoebox diorama of the four food groups," Hyde read and Tina grimaced.

She had a very good memory and more than anything, her past moments of vindictiveness shone clear. She could remember when she had thrown all of Laurie's makeup in the trash and personally waited for the garbageman to come get it. She could remember telling Eric that he had been adopted and then following it up with taking him to someone's house and introducing him to his "real parents." He had gone home crying. She could even remember forcing Kelso to each an entire box of candies on a dare knowing that they were expired because he pretended like he didn't know her in eighth grade.

The years before Laurie decided to effectively ruin her self-esteem, Tina had been one of Hyde's main adversaries. In later years it had grown more playful but when she was younger… Tina winced once more, the harsh bite of metal digging into the bottom of her thighs as she scooted a bit farther back on the desk.

"You're a monster," Donna teased from across the room, completely oblivious to the startled mental distress signals that the twins were sending to each other. In front of her, Hyde's shoulders were bunched, his head still bent over the papers. "A horrible, horrible monster."

"Yeah, real funny, but I didn't do it," he snapped, flipping furiously through the pages.

Tina felt a bolt of panic burst through her as her twin stepped forward, his face hardening. "You know what's really funny, Hyde?" Tina resisted the urge to leap across the room and squeeze down on his windpipe. The thing about being twins that ended each other's sentences before they realized that it creeped people out was that often you're lumped together. Tina knew this all too well and she also knew that the next words out of her brother's lips were going to implicate her in a lot more than a dumb food group diorama.

Hyde's words were mumbled, his eyes still running across the page as if he were searching for some other explanation than the ones he was finding on the paper. "What, Forman?"

"I don't really think-" Tina started to hedge but was quickly cut off by a few sharp laughs.

"Heh heh," her brother squawked, the laugh almost non-existent as he stared at some invisible spot on the ceiling. "I broke the diorama."

Hyde's head snapped up. "You?"

Tina could feel a bubble of anxiety start to open up in her stomach as thunder crashed outside fo the broken window. In the tiny room, almost all of the attention snapped to the two. And… Tina gulped, a dribble of sweat snaking down her neck as she felt the uncomfortably sharp stare of Donna Pinciotti.

"Her's was better than mine. I had to smash it." A look of contrite sadness drooped his shoulders. "I left out diary."

The gaze was sharpening. Tina could almost feel it starting to cut through the top layer of her temple. In her lap, her nails tap, tap, tapped against her skirt, her foot starting to jiggle. She got antsy when she was nervous. Jesus, she needed something to clean.

Hyde's steps were measured as he stalked closer to Eric, his eyes narrowed, voice lowering with anger. "You know, that's when everyone turned against me. They pegged me as a bad kid! And once that happens, you're labeled forever. You ruined my life, Forman."

Tina flinched at the last name, her heart rabbiting out of her chest. Because there was someone that already labeled him a bad kid. Someone who wanted to ruin Hyde's life even before the diorama. Her foot blurred as she stared unseeingly at the pair, a cold sweat breaking out across her brow.

"Hey, are you okay?" Jackie leaned around Fez, her eyes wide as she eyed the pale pallor of the auburn-haired girl. "You look all… ew."

"Tina." All at once, the wild dashing of her foot stilled, her expression stiffening as Donna's brows rose, her stare accusing. "Didn't you and Eric refuse to do projects as individuals back then?"

 _Tattling little snake_. The withering glare that was building in the auburn-haired girl's eyes wilted all at once as Hyde slowly turned, his fingers tightening on the file.

"Oh dear," Fez murmured, clutching his candy bag to his chest as he eyes the three. Kelso's face was nearly splitting with his smile, his eyes ravenously gleeful as he took in the drama.

Hyde's eyes narrowed. "You've got to be kidding me."

A nervous laugh broke from Tina's lips before she could stop it, her insides withering. "I mean… you and I didn't really get along back then…"

"You've got to be _fucking_ kidding me," Hyde repeated, his eyes flashing. His stare made her feel about ten inches tall.

Eric's head tilted to the side, catching his twin's eyes with a grimace. "Come on, man. Remember when you first met and she accused you of stealing money from me? Not the best first impression."

Tina felt her face go tight, remembering the self-righteous fury she had felt at seeing the curly-haired boy standing beside her brother in the driveway. At Hyde's stunned expression, she knew that that hatred might have not ran both ways however. His face tensed as he stalked closer, the thick packet of teacher's notes and detention slips making the desk beneath her squeak. His eyes were deadly, the green that was usually so subdued, blazing to life with indignant fury.

"I thought you were the most beautiful girl I had ever met," he drawled, his voice low as Tina withered beneath his stare. He wasn't inclined to mention what else he had thought. Something about making her cry - but he often felt the urge to break pretty things.

Somewhere to the left, Fez and Jackie gave identical sighs of glee. "That is _so_ romantic."

"But I guess your mind wasn't going along the same track," he finished softly and she could all but see the general tide fo the room turning against her as Kelso let out a ' _ah!'_ of scandal.

"Oh stop it," Tina hissed, her hackles suddenly raising as she remembered all the times that he had pushed her out of the way to get some cookies or called her a blowfish or done something else horrible. No wonder she had wanted to strangle him most days in kindergarten. Not to mention that he had continuously tried to get Eric to ditch her to go steal something or - when they got older - go smoke something. "The first time you met me, you called me _shrimp_. AND YOU PULLED _MY_ _HAIR_!"

"Oh yeah…" Eric murmured, blinking at the sudden clarity of the memory. Tina's eyes turned an icy blue, glaring up at the impassive look on Hyde's face as he leaned back from her, crossing his arms.

"Girls used to love it when I was mean to them," he drawled.

Tina's arms crossed as well, her eyes narrowing into a glare. "I guess that's why Jenna Miller said you were an ass in art after you told her she looked like a walrus."

Jackie let out a gasp, looking thoroughly alarmed. "She dropped out right before middle school and moved to Alaska!"

Hyde's eyes roll. "Oh please. If she can't handle being called a walrus by a kindergarten bully then she's gonna have some serious issues."

"Yeah. Like surviving," Donna mutters from across the room earning a sharp glance from Jackie. With a fake glare, she glances back to Hyde. "You big meanie."

"She did always smell like seafood," Eric mused.

Tina could almost feel his focus sharpening, his fingers clenching into fists. His jaw tightened as he leveled an unamused stare at her.

"Listen, stabby twins," he snarled. "The fact remains that you threw me under the bus over a fucking diorama."

"Hey!" Eric protested, his vocie raising an octave as he tried to draw some of the attention. "I - I could have been the one - I mean, there were two people in that project-"

"Oh please," Hyde growled, his eyes rolling. "We both know that Tina was all over that little plot."

"That's-" Eric didn't know what else to say. So instead he just shook his head, letting out high pitched noises and grunts until Tina's stare silenced him.

Donna's head tipped to the side, her smile revealing enough to key Tina into the fact that she was getting a little bit too much enjoyment from this little exchange. "You were a little more world dominat-y than Eric."

"Like a mini Medusa," Hyde supplied.

Tina blood boiled, all regret evaporating at the ludicrous claims. Because the fact remained that Steven Hyde had been her mortal enemy from kindergarten to this summer. A low squeak ripped through the room as she leveled herself from the desk, her nails digging into the palm of her hand as she scowled across the room at the curly-haired boy.

Kelso let out a happy breath, his mouth widening with an awed smile as he scooted the bucket that he sat on a bit closer to Fez. "She reaches like a new level of hotness whenever she gets mad."

"MICHAEL!" Jackie screamed, slamming her boot into his face with enough force to make Kelso howl in agony.

Hand clenched to his jaw he crowed out an enraged gasp. "WHAT?! THAT WOULD BE LIKE GETTING INTO BED WITH A RATTLESNAKE!"

"HEY!" Eric and Hyde snarled, reeling on the boy who scuttled back a step.

"WHY'S EVERYONE MAD AT ME?" He screamed petulantly and Fez gave a happy murmur as he shoved a handful of nerds into his mouth, his eyes glued to the exchange. An accusing finger raised as Kelso tried desperately to draw the attention away from himself. "SHE'S THE ONE THAT RAILROADED YOU IN HISTORY!"

"What?" Hyde blinked.

Eric's eyes widened as Tina's hair nearly raised into a coil of hissing snakes, her shoulders raising as she stared down at Kelso. "WHAT?"

"Oh…" he whispered, wincing.

"YOU FUCKED ME OVER IN HISTORY TOO?!" Hyde snarled, reeling on the girl who looked closer to a walking viper than a human as she stared down at Kelso's quivering body, her eyes illuminating to an ungodly blue at the crack of another bolt of lightning.

Tina's words were low, her complexion going a similar shade to stone as lanky, brown-haired boy gave a pitiful whimper. "I will _kill_ you."

Donna's chair shrieked across the room as she scooted all the way back to the exit, clutching at her transcript.

Tina's face has gained a splash of color, her cheeks reddening as she tried to explain. "You had used that excuse about your dog eating your homework _so many times_ , Hyde. What did you _want_ me to do? _Not_ tell Mrs. Henders that you _didn't_ have a goldfish, much less a dog?"

"Um, how about yeah?" Hyde's face was pulled into a snarl, his teeth bared as he stared down at a girl that he still found somehow, infuriatingly cute in his jacket and those stupid cat ears that kept slipping down her forehead. Which just proved to piss him off even more. "I thought you and me were cool."

"Well, we weren't," Tina snapped, whipping around to glare up at him. Her twin drifted toward her side before backing away to where Donna sat, thinking better of it. Tina's teeth flashed as she sneered up at the boy who she currently - maddeningly - thought was handsome beyond any earthy measure. Who had hair that curly and eyes that deadly? It was enough to make her want to pull her own hair out. "I _hated_ you. I would have _gnawed_ _off_ my own arm if it meant that I could have blamed it on _you_."

"Woah," Fez whispered, his mouth covered in a thin layer of chocolate. "Hardcore."

Hyde's lips thinned, his eyes flashing. "Wow. Would have been nice to know that before I started macking on you."

Tina's eyes narrowed to blue slits. "Or what? You would have been able to control yourself?"

Teeth flashing, he let out a low snarl of irritation, not answering. Because if he spoke the truth - that no, he would have still wanted to bite down on her lip and feel her shaking beneath his fingertips, hear her moan out his name - yeah. That would sound _pathetic_. Which just pissed him off even more. Who the hell did this beautiful chick think she was?

The pits of hell could have opened up between them at that moment for the anger that was charging through the air between them.

"What the hell were you even thinking, Tina?" he snarled and that little action made her want to simultaneously kick him in the shins and bang her own head against the nearest wall.

For her part, Tina knew exactly what she had been thinking when she had suggested that Eric tell the teacher that Hyde had been the one to break that girl's diorama. Something along the lines of anticipation at Steven's face when he finally got what was coming for him.

But that didn't seem like the best thing to mention.

"I don't know," she hedged but her temper flared again at that stupid expression on his face. "Maybe that you had just tripped me in the hallway, Hyde!"

"They're relationship is sooo…" Kelso's face pulled into a grimace, his sentence tapering off into awkward silence as both Hyde and Tina whirled on him.

"Hey, why don't you shut it, man?" the curly-haired boy snarled, towering up behind the auburn-haired girl in a way that reminded Kelso of a watch-dog shadowing its master.

Jackie's eyes widened, her brows furrowing. "Back off. It's not his fault that you two are totally dysfunctional."

A short, harsh breath puffed out of Tina as she eyed two of the most idiotic, egotistical, completely relationship inept members of the group. "Ironic coming from Yoko Ono and her fucking Beatles flunky."

"Ha!" Hyde sneered, resisting the urge to pull her in for a kiss that would more than likely end in him hauling her back to Forma's car.

"Hey!" Kelso yelped, scrabbling to his feet and sending the bucket he was seated on, ricocheting off of the wall. Jackie was quickly behind him. "He was very successful after that."

Tina sneered, stalking over to the stack of permanent records and ripping open the ones stamped with _Burkhart, Jackie_ and _Michael, Kelso._ "Fine, Lennon. Let's see what the files say about the perfect couple."

At her back, she could feel the gentle heat of Hyde as he picked up Kelso's much lighter record. Her eyes scanned over the file once and then twice, annoyed at the lack of anything even remotely damning.

"Go ahead," Jackie crowed. "I have a perfect record."

A perfectly boring record, Tina thought venomously, searching through the pages with growing agitation. She was freaking perfect. Not a single missed day until she went for a month-long stay in Paris. Always got a sticker and was apparently a delight.

And then Tina's eyes stalled on the top of the page, her face freezing. No. That couldn't be. Slowly, she turned, the gentle snick of papers drifting through the air as Hyde refiled through his packet with annoyance.

Her eyes drifted to the brown-haired girl, a smile curling her lips. "Really? Your middle name is Beulah?"

Hyde's fingers froze on the pages, his eyes immediately snapping up. Kelso's face turned ashen a thick silence falling over the room as all eyes turned instinctively to Jackie who had gone three shades lighter.

"I HATE YOU!" Jackie shrieked, lunging forward with enough force that all Tina could do was move to the side and watch as she crashed into the desk with enough force to down a buffalo. Still, like a cat, she whirled, all claws and teeth as she tried to lunge once more at Tina but was forcibly hauled back by Hyde. "I'll remember this, Tina!"

"Good," Tina taunted. "Because I'll be remembering this too, _Beulah_."

The howl that the small girl let out was so otherworldly that even Kelso almost dropped her after Hyde had forced her into his arms.

"Listen that's the least of our problems right now," Hyde interrupted. Quietly, Jackie snarled from Kelso's arms, her face rabid. "Kelso over here had to repeat first grade."

Six pairs of eyes snapped over to the suddenly still boy, his face having taken on a shade similar to curdled milk. His arms tightened around a suddenly quiet Jackie, taking an unsteady step backward.

"Oh my god," Jackie gasped, wiggling form his grip so that she could back away from him in disgust. "Michael, say it's not true."

"I feel so lied to," Tina heard her twin breath to Donna.

Kelso's shoulders hunched against the open accusation. "It was… it was the cursive writing, all right? All those stupid squiggles and bumps. I wouldn't do it!"

Hyde let out a snort. "You mean you couldn't do it."

"No! I _wouldn't_ do it and that's why they held me back." His face immediately blanched, his head drooping. "Plus I might have killed the class bunny. WHY?!"

Fez hurried over, his pupils slightly dilated from copious amounts of chocolate and pure sugar as he wrapped a protective arm around the lankier teen. "It's okay, Kelso."

"Wait…" Tina's mind did a few mental calculations, rehashing the fact that he had had to do first grade… twice… Her eyes sharpened on Kelso. "How old are you?"

Immediately, Hyde stiffened. "Wait a minute…" Fez's face had gone still. "If you had to go through… Are you 18, man?"

"Yeah," Kelso said, obviously still shaken from his recent admission about the class bunny. "That's why I always seemed more mature than you guys."

Besides being an absolutely idiotic thing to say, it was also a betrayal so deep to the group that the others could barely fathom it. All at once, they were up, converging on Kelso with feral intent.

"ARE YOU TELLING ME THAT ALL THIS TIME YOU COULD HAVE BEEN BUYING US BEER?" Hyde snarled.

"You bastard!" Fez gasped.

Tina for her part was mad about the many, many times that she had had to go with out a good glass of wine in favor of soda. Her teeth bared in a sneer as she jabbed a finger at him. "How _dare_ you?"

"You're dead to me," Hyde growled.

Immediately, Kelso's fingers jabbed out at all of the assembled teens, pointing emphatically at both Tina and Eric in turn. "They ruined your life!"

"Yeah and if I had a beer, I could be getting over it right about now," he snapped back immediately.

Tina sent him a cold smile. "Nice try though!"

"BEER!" Eric started and the sentiment was echoed quickly by the others. From her place against the wall, Donna got to her feet. "BEER! BEER! BEER! BE-"

A plaid capped figure blurred in front of the advancing masses, brown curls bouncing as Jackie bodily shielded Kelso. "Alright, everyone just calm down. Okay? Because he may be a liar but at least he's not a backstabber like Tina and Eric."

Tina's eyes rolled and for once she was infinitely on Donna's side as she sent the other girl a sneer. "Stay out of this, _Beulah_."

"Don't." Tina could almost see the blood vessels in Jackie's forehead pulsing as she bared her teeth at the redhead. "Call. Me. That."

Tina crossed her arms, flanking the taller girl as she whirled back around. "Why don't you tell us what we should call you, Yoko?"

"You _bitch_ ," Jackie sneered and Tina grinned. God, Hyde's hands ached to grab her and bite that lip.

"Beulah," Donna taunted, brows raising.

And then all at once, Jackie was smiling, her face tense with restrained anger. "Fine." Jackie's arms extended diplomatically. "You know what? Donna kissed Hyde last year."

All of the air in Tina's lunges wooshed out as Donna's face paled. In the back corner of the room, she heard her brother's choked gasp. It shouldn't feel like a betrayal… But it did. Her mind condensed painfully on the knew fact, a whooshing filling her ears as Donna all but leapt on Jackie. What the hell?

Her eyes tore from the dark-haired girl, dragging painfully to where Hyde was approaching her, his face pinched with pain. "Listen, Tina-"

"I thought you said that you loved me since we were kids." Why was that the first thing that tore from her? She wanted to claw her own eyes out just so that she would be able to reach inside and tear out her own brain so that she could stop these images - images of Donna and Hyde. Her Hyde. Hyde kissing Donna like he… Like he kissed her. Pain crashed over her.

"I did," Hyde scrambled. "I do-"

"WHAT THE HELL, MAN?!" Eric yanked his sister behind him, his face stiff with rage as he stared down the curly-haired boy. "How… HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?"

Rage rolled through Hyde's eyes, his teeth flashing. "I guess I'm just a born troublemaker." All of that bled away when his eyes darted back to where Tina was visible behind her twin though. "Can we please talk?"

"What did you and Donna talk about before you ended up swapping saliva?" Venom, thick and potent laced each word. A sadistic part of her actually wanted to know. Her mind involuntarily drifted to when he had rode off on the back of that greasy haired chicks moped. And wasn't that a road to agony?

"When the hell were you going to tell us?" Eric demanded, Donna's features twisting as she turned sporadically from Jackie to us.

Tina's mouth twisted bitterly as she eyed the blonde. And her perfect body. She was tall as hell but that meant that she was curvy and had great boobs. Damn her. "I don't think they ever were."

"Tina-" Hyde started, reaching out for her only to be pushed back by Eric.

"Don't touch her, pal!"

"Who the hell are you talking to?"

Who does it look like-"

Across the room, Donna was screaming at Jackie. Voice bounced off of the walls, echoing, crowding in on each other until there wasn't anything coherent. Tina's fingers balled, her mind playing over her brother's words from a week ago. He hadn't been right. She hadn't been together with Hyde.

But Hyde had known that her brother was in love with Donna…

Her stomach twisted painfully.

"STOP IT!" Fez's cape fluttered, his eyes wide with worry as he dove into the middle of the chaos. "Can't you see what's happening?" Silences thickened in the room. Fez's eyes darted to the stack of files sprawled across the desk. "Those permanent records are tearing us apart."

Immediately, Tina's eyes snapped to the worn pages, a few fluttering harmlessly in the desolate wind that blew through the burned halls. Her mind drifted scornfully back to the moment that Hyde had turned on her.

"Batman's right," Eric muttered, his mouth thinning. "Look what we've become."

"We're like animals," Donna breathed.

"Worse than animals," Tina bit out, shaking her head.

Kelso's fingers were white around the hilt of his flashlight as he thrust it at the packets. "Those files are evil, man."

Jackie's eyes narrowed. "We have to destroy them?"

"But how, Jackie?" Eric pressed. "How?"

A pregnant silence filled the room. Tina's mind ran over all the possibilities. And then somehow drifted back to Donna and Hyde playing tongue hockey in some incredibly romantic setting. Her stomach rolled. Out fo the corner of her eyes, she could see Hyde trying to catch her eyes.

"I saw a shovel in the back," Kelso suggested.

And if for nothing other than to avoid Hyde, she hurried to go find it.

* * *

_Whew that was a long one and dense as hell. I hope that I kept it lightish? I hope. Maybe not. It started out light as whipped cream though. Anyway! Please leave me a **REVIEW and check out my patreon**. Ya'll know how much I love my reviews and it'll making me feel like a penguin bunny - which sounds like a lovely combination, right? **Penguin bunny reviews for the win!**_


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